unit 8 Flashcards
investment company
- corporation or trust through which investors may acquire an interest in large, diversified portfolios of securities by pooling their funds with other investors’ funds and buying shares or units of the fund
- investment company act of 1940 provides for SEC regulation
- subject to regulation about how shares are sold to the public
types of investment companies
- face amt cert (FAC)
- unit investment trust (UIT)
- management investment companies
face amt cert (FAC) companies
- a contract between an investor and an issuer where the issuer guarantees payment of the stated/fixed sum to the investor at some set date in the fire.
- investor agrees to pay the issuer a set amt of money in lump sum or installments
- unit investment trust (UIT)
- unmanaged investment company organized under a trust indenture
- UITs do NOT: have a BOD, employ investment advisor, or actively manage the portfolio
- issues only redeemable securities (units or shares of beneficial interest) which rep an undivided interest in a portfolio of specified securities.
- portfolio remains fixed
- sold by prospectus
- trustees must maintain secondary markets in the units to allow investors to redeem their units at NAV
management investment company
- actively manages a securities portfolio to achieve a stated investment objective.
- closed end or opened end
- ## mutual funds are opened end investment company
net asset value
NAV = (value of fund assets - liabilities)/ # of outstanding shares
- mutual fund’s NAV is calculated daily by deducting the fund’s liabilities from its total assets
- NAV per share = fund’s NAV/# of outstanding shares
diversified management company
meets requirements of 75-5-10 test:
- at least 75% of the fund’s total assets are invested in cash/securities issued by companies other than the investment company itself or =affiliates
- that 75% must be invested so
- no more than 5% of the fund’s total assets are invested in the securities of any one issuer and
- no more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer is owned
opened end investment companies (mutual funds) initial capitalizations
- does not specify exact # of shares it intends to issue
- can raise an unlimited amt of capital by continuously insuring new shares
- requires to deliver a prospectus prior to or concurrent with the sale
- investors in mutual funds are always buying a NEW issue
- can only issue common stock
- can buy preferred stocks and bonds but can’t issue them
closed end investment companies initial capitalizations
- registers a fixed # of shares with the SEC and offers them to the public for a limited time through an underwriting group
- investors close their position by selling on the secondary markets. Cannot redeem back to the company.
- can issue common stock, preferred stock and bonds
interval funds
- closed end investment company traded under the investment act of 1940
- do NOT trade in the secondary market
- periodically (month to annual) investors can sell portion of shares back to the fund at NAV
- fund can take more illiquid positions
- suitable for investors with long time horizon
business development company (BDC)
- created by an act of congress in 1980
- create a vehicle to aid in the promotion and development of small businesses
- closed end investment company regulated under the investment company act of 1940
- at least 70% of assets must be “eligible”
- must make available significant managerial assistance - is an operating company
eligible portfolio company
- any issuer that doesn’t have any class of securities listed on a national securities exchange, unless they have an aggregate MV of outstanding voting and nonvoting common equity of less than 250mm
pricing of closed end investment company shares
- closed end investment companies are know as publicly traded funds
- supply and demand determine bid and ask prices
- shares typically trade at a premium or discount to NAV
- trade in secondary market or OTC
- market price is independent of NAV
- NAV is typically only computed once a week
pricing of open end investment company shares
- anyone can buy shares directly from the company or its underwriters at the public offering price (POP)
- no secondary trading
- sells redeemable securities
- when investors liquidate their shares the company redeems them at NAV
- mutual fund’s capital decreases when investors redeem
- shares can be bought as full or fractional units
public offering price (POP)
NAV per share + sales charge
forward pricing
- mutual funds must calculate NAV at least once a day, typically close of markets
- whenever an order to buy/sell shares is received the price is based on the next computed NAV per share
FINRA rule 2341
- prohibits embers who under fund shares from assessing sales charges in excess of 8.5% of the POP on the purchase of open end investment company shares
cost to purchase mutual funds
- all sales commission and expense for an open ended fund are embedded in the POP or other fees
- sales expenses include commission for the underwriter, BDs, reg reps, advertising and sales materials
class A shares
- front end loads (difference between POP and NAV)
Breakpoints
- available to any person
- person includes: married couples, parents and minor kids, corporations and certain other entities.
- breadpoints vary across mutual fund families
- must disclosure breakpoint schedule in the prospectus
- discounts can be the result of single large investment, aggregated investments of Letter of intent
- purchases made by same investor across accounts can be aggregated
breakpoint sales
selling investment company shares in a dollar amt just below the point where the sales charge is reduced
letter of intent (LOI)
- investor may be eligible for fee reduction if they add to their investments within 13 months
- one sided contract binding on the fund only
- the customer must complete the investment to qualify for the reduced sales charge
- often can backdate letter, 90th day after an initial purchase
- may not cover more than 13 months in total
rights of accumulation
- allow an investor to qualify for reduce sales charges
- allow the investor to use prior share appreciation and reinvestment to qualify for breakpoints and do not impose limits
- mutual fund general bases the quantity of securities owned in the higher of current NAV or the total purchases made to date
computing the sales charge %
- when NAV and POP are known you can compute the sales charge %
POP - NAV = sales charge dollar amt
(sale charge dollar amt)/POP = sales charge %
- when dollar amt of NAV and sales charge are know, you can find POP
NAV/(100%-sales charge %)= POP
- mutual fund prospectus must have formula that shows how fund competes the NAV and how sales charge is added.
- sales charge is always based on the POP
- bc of sales charge loaded funds should be recommended for long term investing
class B shares
- back end load/contingent deferred sales charge (back end charge for early redemption of shares)
- normally declines to 0 over time
- once charge is eliminated, almost all class B shares convert to Class A shares
- do not impose sales charge at time of purchase
class C shares (level load)
- typically have a 1 yr 1% contingent deferred sales charge, a 0.75% 12b-1 fee and a 0.25% shareholder service fee
-appropriate for investors with a short time horizon
12b-1 fee
- asset based distribution fee
- used to cover marketing and distribution costs
- compensation reg reps
- fee is deducted quarterly as a % of the fund’s average total NAV
- max fee is 0.75% for distribution and promotion
- FINRA allows an additional 0.25% service fee
- expressed as an annual amt, but shared and reviewed quarterly
no load fund
- doesn’t charge any type of sales fee, but may charge fees for other things like redemption fees
- can still pay annual operating expenses and be no load
- combined total of the fund’s 12b-1 fees and separate shareholders services fees cannot exceed 0.25% of the fund’s average annual net assets
expense ratio
- expresses management fees and operating expenses as a % of the fund’s net assets
expense ratio = annual operating expenses/average dollar value of the fund’s AUM
- sales charge is not considered an expense when calculating a fund’s expense ratio
cost of entry
- initial investments start at $1000
- additional investments as little as $25
- owner of one share has an undivided interest in the entire portfolio of the fund
dollar cost averaging
- invests identical amts an regular intervals to end up with lower average cost per share than average price per share
- purchase more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high
withdrawal plans
- mutual funds are easy to withdraw from
- can do lump sum withdrawal, fixed dollar withdrawal, fixed % or share withdrawal, fixed time withdrawal
fixed dollar withdrawal
- request periodic withdrawal of a fixed dollar amt
fixed % or share withdrawal
- a fixed % or # of shares is liquidated each period
fixed time withdrawal
- customer liquidate holdings over a fixed period
withdrawal plan disclosures
- withdrawal plans are not guaranteed
- mutual fund’s require a customer’s acct to be worth a min amt before the withdrawal plan can begin
- reg rep must:
- never promise an investor a guaranteed ROR
- stress that overwithdrawing can occur
- stress that during a down market the acct could be exhausted with only a small withdrawal
- never use charts or tables unless the SEC clears their use
voluntary accumulation plans
- allows a costumer to deposit regular periodic investments on a voluntary basis (min amt is in prospectus)
- help investors form regular investing habit while offering flexibility
- may require min initial purchase and min additional purchase amt
family of funds or fund complex
- when a single sponsor or distributor offers more than 1 fund
changes within a family of funds
- exchange privileges allow an investor to confer an investment in 1 fund for an equal investment in another fund in the same family without incurring an additional sale charge
- any gain or loss from the redemption must be reported for tax purposes
- purchase must no exceed the proceeds generate by the redemption of the other fund
- redemption may not involve a refund of sales charge
- sales personnel and deals get no compensation
- taxable event
mutual fund dividend distributions
- investment company act of 1940 requires a written statement to accompany divided payments by management companies.
- must clearly indicate what the payment per share is made from
- mutual fund dividends are typically paid from the fund’s net investment income on a quarterly basis