All well designed portfolios will have a “core” of broadly diversified mutual funds. These are your “buy and hold” investments. They will be relatively low risk and require little of your attention. But you do not need to settle for market average returns. As a graduate of this course you will be able to put together a portfolio of Core Funds that has the potential to significantly out-perform market averages without exceeding your risk tolerance limits. With your Core Funds Portfolio Segment in place, you can then consider adding other Portfolio Segments, as discussed in Courses 3, 4 and 5 of the Confident Investing Series. These Segments have the potential to boost your overall portfolio returns to a level that allows you to reach the goals of your dreams. But first you need to put in place a solid Core Funds Segment. This course shows you how.

Target Return from this Portfolio Segment: 12%+

Below are the Forward from the course and the Table of Contents. Below the Forward are a list of some of the types of Web Resources referenced in the course.

Welcome to the second of five courses in the NAOI Confident Investing Series. This course will teach you how to develop your Core Funds Portfolio Segment, one of four segments that the NAOI has defined as portfolio building blocks. The other segments are: Focused Funds (Course 3), Individual Stocks (Courses 4 and 6) and Stock Options (Course 5).

All Portfolios Should Have a Core Funds Segment

All well-planned portfolios will have at its core a portfolio of Core Funds. Core funds are characterized as being broad-based, diverse, relatively low risk and require little of your on-going attention after you have placed them in your portfolio. These will be your “buy and hold” investments. The Core Funds Segment will not produce eye-popping returns, but as a graduate of this course you will not settle for market averages either.

What You Will Learn In This Course

This course will show you how to find, analyze and buy the best funds in the market for inclusion in the Core of your portfolio. To enable you to do this the pages that follow will give you the knowledge, structure and Web resources you need to find fund ideas, perform extensive due diligence on your fund candidates and build a Core Funds Segment that matches your investing goals.

At the end of this course you will have a list of specific mutual funds for your Core Portfolio. These will not be NAOI recommendations - the NAOI does not give investing advice or recommend specific investments. These will be funds that you have found and analyzed on your own using the knowledge and tools provided in this course.

Core Funds - One Part of a Total Portfolio

With this relatively low-risk segment as the foundation of your total portfolio you are then free to consider Portfolio Segments that have the potential for much higher returns. Your Core Funds Segment is one component of a complete investing portfolio. Lesson 16 of this course (see Table of Contents at right) walks you through a total portfolio design process that enables you to consider additional segments such a Focused Funds, Individual Stocks and Options. 

Choose Your Core Funds Carefully

Spend significant time working through this course. The investments you include in your Core Funds Portfolio will be investments that you will plan to hold for years and through numerous business cycles. This fact demands that you put in the work up-front to ensure that you buy only the best funds that the market has to offer. This course shows you how.

Table of Contents

Forward

Part I: An Introduction to the Core Mutual Funds Segment

Lesson 1 - Core Funds: The Foundation of Your Portfolio

Lesson 2 - The Core Funds Segment Design Process

Part II: Working with Asset Classes

Lesson 3 - Understanding Asset Classes, Risk and Risk Reduction

Lesson 4 - Defining Your Core Asset Allocation

Part III: Working with Mutual Funds and Fund Categories

Lesson 5 - Understanding Mutual Funds

Lesson 6 - Understanding Exchange Traded Funds

Lesson 7 - Understanding Mutual Fund Categories

Lesson 8 - Collecting Fund Category Data

Lesson 9 - Selecting Your Core Funds Categories

Part IV: Working with Individual Mutual Funds

Lesson 10 - Getting Core Fund Ideas

Lesson 11 - Evaluating Individual Mutual Funds

Lesson 12 - Selecting Your Core Funds

Part V: Trading Managing and Monitoring Your Core Funds

Lesson 13 - How To Trade Mutual Funds Online

Lesson 14 - Setting Up an Online Portfolio Manager / Monitor

Lesson 15 - Periodic Review of Your Core Funds Segment

Part VI: Beyond Core Funds

Lesson 16 - Considering Additional Portfolio Segments 

Course Summary

Your Graduation Reward !