Freelance writing, ghostwriting - finance, business, technology

Sharon Rockey is a freelance writer and ghostwriter for print and on-line media. She writes for business, finance, and technology. Visit her on-line portfolio and contact her for your next project.

Prior to the launch of a client's Hedge Fund Website, we wrote a series of e-newletters that covered fund basics, compared the fee structure to those of Mutual Funds, and because a portion of the Hedge Fund profits would go to environmental causes, we covered the trend in ethical investing. 1. Taking the Mystery Out of Hedge Funds 2. Mutual Fund Fees: Small Print, Big Teeth 3. Got a New Attitude: All About Ethical Investing 4. Mutual Funds:Where's the Incentive to Perform? 5. Anatomy of a Hedge Fund 6. When Hedge Fund Managers Become Business Partners 7. Get the Hedge Fund Edge 8. What About the Hedge Fund Manager? Mutual Fund Fees: the Small Print with the Big Teeth by sharon rockey In December 2000, the SEC published a report about the impact of mutual fund fees on investment returns — "a 1% increase in a fund's annual expenses can reduce an investor's ending account balance in that fund by 18% after twenty years." That's a whopping difference, yet most mutual fund news is still about performance, not the big bites that fees are taking out of your returns. You might not have time to dig up this crucial information yourself, so here's a little something to chew on: (These are just a few examples of fees. They vary from fund to fund, but all are charged regardless of a fund's performance.) Front-end loads: Up to 8.5% sales commission for broker (reduces the initial amount available to purchase fund shares). Back-end loads: A commission to brokers when investor redeems shares (amount depends on numerous variables). Redemption Fee: Up to 2% (covers administration costs) Management Fee: Management and/or shareholder administration services (fixed percentage of total value of fund assessed once a year). Exchange Fee: Imposed when transferring from one fund to another. Account Fee: An additional fee charged if account value is less than a specified amount. 12b-1 Fee: Promotion expenses—advertising and public relations (up to 0.75% of a fund's average net assets annually. May include an additional 0.25% shareholder service fees). To find out how much of your return is being lost to fees, use the SEC Mutual Fund Cost Calculator: http://www.sec.gov/investor/tools/mfcc/mfcc-int.htm Watch for our upcoming newletters. They come with a warning label about why mutual fund fees may be detrimental to your financial health. Next--> Got a New Attitude: All About Ethical Investing