Manage a Blend Fund

Achieving a good mix of both growth and income is an attractive prospect to investors. In the past, it was often difficult to manage complicated portfolios with shares in separate growth and value funds. Blend funds are designed to ease complications and make it easier for the average investor to manage his or her portfolio. It's important to gather information about blend funds and get tips on how to choose the right one for you.

Understand Your Blend Fund

Learn what a blend fund is all about. A blend fund offers a mix of value and growth stocks. There are no fixed-income securities involved in a blend fund.

Find out the role of value stocks. The value stocks in a blend fund are believed to be undervalued by its investors and managers. The potential appreciation of these stocks (once their value becomes common knowledge) is part of the driving force behind blend funds.

Examine the potential of growth funds. The second part of the blend fund is growth stocks. These stocks have the potential for rapid growth, which can translate into large profits for investors.

Invest in Blend Funds

Find a financial adviser to help you establish concrete financial goals. This will help you determine the exact type of blend fund you'll need to reach your target.

Search for blend funds with good performance histories. You can find blend funds by looking in a financial newspaper or by searching the Internet.

Study the prospectus for each company you're interested in. You'll find a lot of valuable information about the fund's objectives and expenses, which should be used to help you make your decision.

Get to know the person who will manage your fund. It's important that you feel comfortable with your fund manager. After all, you'll be investing a good chunk of your money with this person.

Find out where you can buy shares in the fund. This might also affect your decision to buy, as there may be additional fees involved.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be confused by multiple names--blend funds are also commonly referred to as hybrid funds.
• Although blend funds are considered less risky than stock mutual funds, their precise risk is difficult to calculate due to their varied composition. Many investors view blend funds as risky because of their lack of fixed-income securities.