Invest in Hartford Mutual Funds

The name that many know as one of the insurance giants is now a player in the mutual fund industry. Hartford mutual funds were only begun 10 years ago, but their performance has been solid. In fact, Hartford posted the No. 2 U.S. Equity Fund Family Performance for the year 2005, and has garnered several awards for customer service. Hartford now offers investors nearly 50 choices of mutual funds.

Decide how much you want to invest and what sort of risk for which you're ready. Consult a financial planner to understand exactly what your investment potential is.

Research using Web sites such as The Investment FAQ, listed in Resources below, for objective background on investing in general and mutual funds in particular.

Further your research using Hartford's Web site, listed in Resources below. They offer lots of helpful information for both new and seasoned investors and let you ask questions if you have any.

Decide on your general focus of mutual funds: Hartford offers a wide choice of types of funds that includes specific industries, such as communications and health; domestic equity; growth, blend, or value funds; and fixed income funds.

Talk to your investment advisor, either at Hartford or on the outside, about narrowing down to several specific funds.

Order the prospectus for each of these funds and read each prospectus carefully.

Make your investment through your investment advisor.

Tips & Warnings

• Take advantage of the mutual fund newsletters offered by Hartford as well as their online article archive.
• Hartford offers mutual fund direction for specific goals such as retirement. If this is the main purpose of your investment, consider investing in the Hartford Target Retirement mutual funds, each of which is designed to be an all-encompassing plan for retirement objectives.
• Remember that the stock market is volatile by nature so you cannot count on past performance predicting the future.
• Don't let investing slip down on your to-do list simply for lack of understanding. If you don't feel like you know enough to talk to an advisor yet, do some more basic research and then make the call. They are used to introducing investors to this often-complicated field.