International Mutual Funds

International mutual funds consist of Global, Foreign, Country Specific, and Emerging Markets. Investments in global funds are both local and International. Foreign focuses on shares in other countries. Country Specific focuses primarily on one region or country of the world. Emerging markets focuses on small developing countries and are considered somewhat risky because the value is dependent upon growth. Small cap mutual funds are investments in new companies who are mostly using share profits to grow and expand. New or emerging companies have a lower market value than large or mid-size companies. Larger and higher market value company shares are known as large-cap and mid-size company shares are known as mid-cap shares. Any investment should be done prayerfully and thoughtfully. The first thing an investor should do is to learn about the stock market and in the different types of investments available. As Christians, the goal should not be to get rich but to be blessed to bless others. In addition, Christians should be willing to invest in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and to provide for their own households. "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22).

Trying to decide on how to invest with mutual funds can be time consuming because there are so many to choose from. The three main types are money market, bond, and stocks. The safest are money-market and treasury-bill shares. Usually these shares are worth a couple of percentage points more than the typical interest income from a savings account. Fixed-income shares are investments that include treasury bills, bonds, and mortgages. These shares usually provide income and sometimes capital gains. International mutual funds offer some of the same investment objectives as other types of shares but they are opportunities to invest globally instead of just locally.

Some investors want diversity with their investments because they feel doing so is safe. For the individual who wants diversity, choosing balanced shares will provide a mixture of common stock, preferred shares, bonds, and cash. Special equity shares are investments in real estate and precious metals. Global and International mutual funds invest in money-market securities, bonds, and stocks in various countries. If a market or country is not doing well there are many others to choose from that may be doing really well. Always consider the level of risk with any investment and find out exactly what the objectives are with any chosen investment.

Different objectives with investments usually include a specific goal that leads to income, growth, and capital. A company or country may have the main objective of providing shareholders with additional income. These shares are usually from investments of equity securities that increase a company's assets and provide the investor with long-term capital gains. The main thing to remember is to be thoughtful about investments and never just randomly pick shares. Small cap mutual funds may not seem attractive to thoughtful investors because they are generally shares in new emerging companies that have no past financial history. However, the knowledge of this does not necessarily mean anything. Some new companies have had tremendous success very quickly and investing in some of them has made some people very wealthy in monetary gain.

An individual who purchases shares in any type of market needs to understand some of the variables involved when it comes to trading or selling shares. Any reinvested distributions are subject to tax. In other words, any profits or gains received from trading are taxed. Keeping good records is important for any investor. Statements from investments should be kept in a safe place whether it is for small cap mutual funds or from International shares. The tax aspect of investments can be complex. The amount of tax due will depend on the type of income earned. Some people think if they reinvest immediately that they won't have to pay taxes on proceeds or distributions but this is not true because this is considered income received.

Bond shares and mortgage shares usually provide income payments to investors. The main thing to remember with International mutual funds that are in the form of bonds and mortgages is that when interest rates go up the value of bonds and mortgage shares go down and vice versa. One risk associated with bonds is the possibility that the issuer fails to make interest payments on time. Mortgage shares are usually guaranteed by the government and they are less volatile than bond shares due to shorter maturity dates. However, mortgages on industrial or commercial property can have longer maturity dates. A maturity date is simply the date that the bond issuer pays the original principle amount that was borrowed to the shareholder or bondholder.

Buying into equity funds spells diversity because each share signifies ownership in not just one company but in various companies. In other words, a share buys investments in several different companies. The hope is that if one company becomes a risk hopefully the others will prove to be profitable. Small cap mutual funds that are invested in equity funds would generally be several companies that are emerging grouped together in one share. This is a lower risk than investing in just one company that is new on the public scene because the investor hopes that if one fails the other companies will hopefully expand and grow and yield an increase. The volatility of the stock market can affect the returns on equity shares. Equity shares are investments in stocks which are made up of assets of Corporations and are less risky in the long-term compared with the short-term.