Patent ID: 7720749

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of purchasing or selling exchange-traded shares comprising: (a) entering into a computer an order to purchase or sell exchange-traded shares on behalf of an investor on the secondary market through a broker, wherein the exchange-traded shares are exchange-traded shares that are associated with a single investment company that has issued (i) one or more classes of shares that are bought from and redeemed with the single investment company at a net asset value, and (ii) one or more classes of shares that are listed for trading on a securities exchange and that are bought and sold at negotiated market prices, wherein shares that are bought and sold at negotiated market prices are the exchange-traded shares, and wherein an owner of any share of any share class has an undivided interest in the single investment company; (b) executing the order on the secondary market via one or computers; and (c) updating account data of the investor in one or more account data computers to reflect the new number of exchange-traded shares held by the investor.