This measure indicates a fixed-income fund's sensitivity to changes in interest rates. In general, the longer a fund's average weighted maturity, the more its share price will fluctuate in response to changing interest rates. A mutual fund that seeks to provide current income and long-term growth of principal and income from a combination of stocks, bonds and cash. A bear bond market indicates rising interest rates. A person designated by a participant or one who, by the terms of the plan, is or may be eligible for benefits under the plan if the participant dies.
Many mutual funds designed to pay income include bonds in their portfolios.
A pool of bonds. Unlike an individual bond, a bond mutual fund does not have a set maturity. Each bond in the fund's portfolio, however, does have a stated maturity, and a dollar-weighted average maturity can be calculated for the bond's portfolio. Because a bond fund is actively managed, many of its bonds may not actually be held to maturity. A firm or individual acting as both a principal and an agent.