Find Your Fund Inception Date

The day a fund begins offering shares is known as its inception date. This date signals the beginning of a new mutual fund and can be used for a variety of purposes. The inception date gives you an idea about the stability of a mutual fund. If it's been around a long time, you know it's pretty established. You can also use the inception date to see how well a fund has performed over the years. At most, financial reports contain data about a fund's performance for the last 10 years. However, you can usually find a record of the fund's performance since its inception date, which gives you a clearer picture about what the fund can do.

Find the Inception Date Online

Use a financial Web site that provides in depth stock quotes. You can run a search of financial Web sites, or use the online features at some reknown sources.

Enter in the ticker number for a given fund. You can also use the full name of the fund.

Look over the stock quote. Occasionally, Web sites will put the inception date on the first page of the stock quote. A quick glance will tell you whether it's there.

Click on the management button to get an overview of the fund's manager. On this page, you will find the fund inception date.

Use Your Fund Inception Date to Chart Performance

Look at the history of your fund since its inception. Most mutual fund quotes, ratings and prospectuses have a section on fund performance. The "Fund Performance for 10 Years or Since Inception" column will show what your fund has been doing over the long term.

Use the time periods available to you if your fund is less than 10 years old. When a fund has only been around for a short period, it is common for historical data to be unavailable. In this case, you will be presented with your fund's performance at specific intervals (usually 1, 3 and 5 years) to help you gauge long-term performance.

Take the historical data and apply it to your fund. Does your fund tend to remain consistent over the years, or does it have extreme highs and lows? You'll need to know to determine the riskiness of the fund and to decide whether this fund will give you the performance you need.