ETFs Glossary

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Fifty-two week range

The highest and lowest prices reached in 52 weeks' time.

Five-year-annualized return

The average return each year over a five-year period. Takes into consideration the reinvestment of capital gains and dividends as well as price changes.

Float

The number of company shares actually available for purchase by public on open markets.

Front load

Percentage of investor's assets that fund may charge as a fee at time of investment. Common in traditional mutual funds, rare in ETFs.

Fund flows

Describes the money flow into or out of mutual funds and ETFs. The Investment Company Institute (ICI) tracks and reports monthly fund flow data.

Fund of Funds

Investment strategy that seeks to diversify risk exposure and manager style among various fund managers. Potential pitfalls include a lack of transparency and an added layer of fees. This strategy is popular with hedge fund investors looking to diversify risk among various fund groups.

Fund overlap

Fund overlap refers to the duplication in owning two or more ETFs or mutual funds that have the same identical securities and/or underlying investment strategy. Investors are effectively paying twice for double work. They pay one fund company to execute an investment strategy and then they pay again to a competing fund to do the exact same work.