FUND INVESTORS: DO A LITTLE DIGGING TO KNOW WHAT YOU OWN

Investors should make sure to read the prospectus carefully and look under the hood at the fund's actual holdings.

- BY KIM CLARK

QUICK investing quiz: What's the difference between an international and a global fund? How big are small- and mid-cap stocks? Why do growth and value funds sometimes own many of the same stocks?

The nomenclature in the world of investing can sometimes be confusing, especially when it comes to fund categories. Lauren Gadkowski Lindsay, a Houston-based certified financial planner, says that as a former English teacher, she pays special attention to the nuances of investing jargon. "It's not as intuitive to the rest of the world as it should be," she says. For fund investors, that means it pays to do a bit of digging to make sure what you've chosen (or are considering buying) fits well in your overall portfolio.

What's in a name? If your fund's name suggests a focus in a particular type of investment, then Securities and Exchange Commission rules require that at least 80% of assets generally be invested in those securities. Likewise, a fund's prospectus will spell out how managers intend to achieve their investment objective in terms of strategy, asset allocation, investment restrictions and the like. "Make sure to read the prospectus carefully, and look under the hood at the fund's actual holdings," says Kirsten Chang, senior industry analyst at exchange-traded fund research firm VettaFi. But even managers with as much as 80% of assets spoken for still have a lot of leeway with the remaining 20%, and plenty of key terms typically used to categorize funds are open to wide interpretation. Below, we've listed a few points of potential confusion. (Fund data are as of January 31.)

Know where you are investing. Many investors aren't aware of the specialized terms used to describe the geographical regions or countries a fund invests in, says Gregg Wolper, senior manager research analyst for investment research firm Morningstar. Consider the difference between international, global and