As of 30 November 2022, there were 10 classes of mutual funds you as an investor can choose from. Whilst in other jurisdictions there may be considerably more, for now, there is a fund for almost everyone.
Whether it’s for parking funds that will be needed soon (Money Market Funds) or you want to invest in accordance with your ethical beliefs (Ethical Funds) or in accordance with your faith (Shari’ah Compliant Funds) or you just want to diversify away from the local currency (USD Funds), to name a few, in total there are 143 funds to choose from. But choose wisely.
Research and analyze before and then monitor and appraise during your holding period. Have an objective/goal/purpose/aim for investing and know your risk appetite.
And as an initial update, as of 2 December, United Capital’s Infrastructure Fund is now live. We are awaiting the prospectus and other details and will provide further updates soon. This brings to 3 the number of SEC-approved and regulated infrastructure mutual funds.
Over time we will give you more deeper insights into the workings of each of these funds and the managers managing them. For now, you can visit moneycounsellors.com for further analysis, charts, asset allocation and more.
Highlighted below is the performance of mutual funds for November 2022.
Balanced Funds: If you do not want to take too much risk, balanced funds, also known as mixed funds, might be your answer. Balanced funds are mutual funds that invest in a mix of investment instruments that range from money market instruments, bonds, equities, and at times real estate and other assets. The proportion and mix of such assets in a portfolio will vary with income and gains/losses coming from each asset class.
Bond/Fixed Income Funds: If you are uncomfortable with having equities in an investment portfolio and prefer a regular source of and/or fixed income, bond/fixed income funds may be just for you. Bond/Fixed Income funds are mutual funds that invest in a portfolio of debt instruments issued by governments, companies, and other entities.
Examples of such instruments include FGN Bonds, State government bonds, Eurobonds, Corporate bonds and may include such others like Commercial papers and Treasury Bills. Some of the instruments may pay a fixed level of cash flows at pre-scheduled intervals over time. The funds will likely make periodic dividend payments from interest earned and sometimes capital appreciation earned from the funds underlying instruments.
Equity Funds: If you have a long investment horizon and can cope with the up and down gyrations of an equity market, then equity funds may just be for you. In the real sense, these funds should invest 100% of their funds in the equity market. However, equity funds in Nigeria leave the back door open for them to be able to invest in fixed-income instruments. Equity funds are mutual funds that invest primarily and mostly in shares.
ETF’s: A low-cost way of getting exposure to the market is via an Exchange Traded Fund. An Exchange Traded Fund, popularly known as ETF is a security that is listed and traded throughout the day on the stock exchange. This security is made up of a portfolio of securities in the fund that tracks an underlying index.
We cannot report on the performance of ETFs as there are differences between the prices published by the main source of our data when compared to other sources including that of operators. We will resume reporting and analysis as soon as we can.
Ethical Funds: Ethical funds are mutual funds where investment decisions are made after taking into consideration some agreed ethical factors. Such factors can be set from a religious, environmental, social, governance or another moral perspective.
Infrastructure Funds: An Infrastructure fund will provide you opportunities to invest in infrastructure which could range from toll roads, airports, and rail facilities to power, telecoms, and other utilities but is not limited to such.
Money Market Funds: Money market mutual funds are low-risk funds that invest in money market instruments such as treasury bills, commercial papers, bank deposits, etc. With current regulations, no instrument in the fund should have a maturity of more than 364 days, and an average maturity of no more than 90 days. Money Market Funds are required to maintain a stable NAV, i.e., the price should not fall below the issue price. All income is distributed out to investors, though an investor may choose to reinvest their income.
Real Estate Funds: Real Estate investment funds, also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are funds that own, operate, and maintain income-producing properties (real estate). They generate a steady stream of income for investors and may offer some capital appreciation too.
Price returns only. Dividends excluded
Shari’ah-compliant funds are mutual funds set up to comply with Islamic law. These funds allow investors to invest their money in instruments and companies that engage in behavior according to Shari’ah law.
Price returns only. Profit sharing excluded
USD funds are funds that invest in US$-denominated instruments, e.g., Eurobonds, US$ bank deposits, etc.
Yield only. Distributions excluded
