Mark Berch: A load is a sales charge or commission paid...

Load: A load is a sales charge or commission paid to a broker or sales intermediary, not to the fund. A load that is paid upfront at the time of purchase is called the front-end load. One that is paid upon selling shares held for less than a specified period of time is called the back-end load or contingent deferred sales charge.

Ian Berch: Expense ratio: The fee expressed as a percentage of assets that is charged to shareholders to cover the costs of running a mutual fund.

Historical Rate of Return: Another term used for "average annual compound rate of return" normally used in reporting historical performance for mutual funds. It is a calculation of the annual rate of return that would result from an investor re-investing the return generated each year for an investment. Mark Berch

Eric Berch: Aggressive growth: This is an investment style of funds that hold positions in potential high-growth companies. Aggressive growth funds have high betas, meaning they tend to be more volatile than the stock market.

No-load fund: A fund with no sales charge.

Ian Berch

Balanced Fund: A mutual fund that seeks to provide a mixture of safety, income and capital appreciation. It invests in a mix of fixed income and equity investments, usually with specific minimum and maximum proportions.

Small cap: A stock with a market capitalization between $300 million and $2 billion.

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Value fund: A mutual fund that invests mainly in value stocks or stocks that are underpriced according to fundamental analysis. Such metrics as the price-to-earnings ratio are used to gauge value.

S&P 500: Standard and Poor's 500 index is a leading indicator of large cap U.S. equities made up of 500 stocks chosen by the S&P Index Committee. Stocks are chosen based on their representation of industries in the economy and liquidity. There is also an index for small-cap companies, the S&P 600, and an index of midcap companies, the S&P 400.

Book Value - Mark Berch

Book Value: The amount of net assets belonging to the owners of a business (or shareholders of a company) based on balance sheet values.

Ian Berch: Asset: Any item of value. Examples are cash, securities, accounts receivable, inventory, office equipment, a house, a car and other property.

Risk: The probability of losing capital. The more risk associated with an asset, the greater the potential for a capital loss. Increased risk can also be understood as a greater range in price or increased volatility. Mark Berch

Eric Berch: Unitholder: Refers to an individual or organization that owns one or more units of a mutual fund. The unitholder has certain ownership rights, such as the right to vote on key issues affecting the fund.

Growth Managers: Fund Managers whose style is to select stocks for growth or perceived growth potential with valuation typically being a secondary consideration.

Ian Berch

Asset allocation: An investing strategy that strives to minimize risk and maximize returns by dividing money into different investment instruments such as stocks, bonds and cash. The allocation decisions are based on the investor's goals, risk tolerance and time horizon.

Value fund: A mutual fund that invests mainly in value stocks or stocks that are underpriced according to fundamental analysis. Such metrics as the price-to-earnings ratio are used to gauge value.

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Return: The amount of money gained or lost on an investment in relation to the amount invested. It's usually stated as a percentage; for example a $25 gain on a $100 investment would have a 25 percent return.

Risk: The probability that the return will be less than expected.