Approved Existing Schemes (AES) are schemes that have assets less than the amount to be a Closed Pension Scheme and are now under the purview of PFA’s with assets held by PFC’s.

The act of a fund manager apportioning assets across a fund according to the document setting it up to achieve the funds and investors goals, risk tolerance and investment objective

The asset manager, in this context is the firm set up to manage, administer and operate mutual funds.

AUM means Assets Under Management. It is the overall total of client assets that a particular firm or the industry is managing on behalf of investors.

Balanced funds are mutual funds that invest in a balance of investment instruments that range from money market instruments, bonds, equities and at times real estate and other assets. The proportion and balance of such assets in a portfolio will vary with income and gains/losses coming from each asset class.

A benchmark is the standard, usually numerical to which a fund’s performance can compared against. This can be an index or a similar fund.

Bid Price is the price at which Investors redeem (sell) units in a fund.

Bond/Fixed Income funds are mutual funds that invest in a portfolio of debt instruments issued by governments, companies, and other entities. Examples of such instruments include FGN Bonds, State government bonds, Eurobonds, Corporate bonds and may include such others like Commercial papers and Treasury Bills. Some of the instruments may pay a fixed level of cash flows at pre-scheduled intervals over time. The funds will likely make periodic dividend payments from interest earned and sometimes capital appreciation earned from the funds underlying instruments.

A closed ended fund is a fund that has been and is run with a fixed initial capital. Units or shares are created at the inception of the fund and the units/shares are then listed on a stock market. New investors can only buy from the open market and existing investors will only be able to sell using the open market.

Closed Pension Funds are schemes managed and operated by private sector firms that had schemes in existence before the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004. The schemes are subject to guidelines issued by PenCom.

Our fund comparison tool allows you to compare up to 4 Funds. You can only compare funds from the same grouping or type, e.g. up to 4 Fund II's (pension funds) or up to 4 Equity Funds (mutual funds).

Please note: any information provided by the comparison tool and its output is NOT financial or investment advice. The tool is intended to provide information only about certain fund characteristics. Neither does it provide a complete picture and overview of the funds compared as there will be other characteristics you may want to consider in any investment decision and under no circumstances should investments be based solely on this information. Money Counsellors does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of the information and we make no representation regarding the suitability of investing in any of the funds mentioned.

A CPFA (Closed Pension Fund Administrator) is a firm that managed a pension scheme that was in existence before the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004. Such schemes are subject to guidelines issued by PenCom.

This is the currency in which a fund is denominated and reports on.

Custodian fee is the renumeration paid to the custodian in performance of their duties to the fund.

A dividend is a share of returns from a fund payable to investors in the fund and declared by the managers of the fund.

Dividend history is a chronological record of dividends paid by a fund over time.

An early redemption fee is a penalty paid for not holding an investment for the minimum holding period.

Equity funds are mutual funds that invest primarily and mostly in shares.

Ethical funds are mutual funds where investment decisions are made after taking into consideration some agreed ethical factors. Such factors can be set from a religious, environmental, social, governance or other moral perspective.

An Exchange Traded Fund popularly known as ETF is a security that is listed and traded throughout the day on the stock exchange. This security is made up of a portfolio of securities in the fund that tracks an underlying index.

Expense ratio captures the annual cost of managing the fund. These annual costs include such things as the managers fees, custodian fees, regulatory fees, trading expenses, audit fees and other operational expenses. These annual costs are then expressed as a percentage of the funds assets.

The final dividend refers to the dividend declared by the fund and paid to investors at the end of the funds financial period.

A fund manager is an individual or group of individuals who manage a fund. The fund manager is sometimes interchangeably called portfolio manager.

The name given to and identifying a particular fund.

The fund overview is meant to provide a general, short, and important aspects of a fund.

The fund performance is a calculation of the change of the unit price of the fund over a defined period. This period could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or any other defined period.

The fund size is a size of a fund taken at a particular point in time. It is usually represented by the AUM at the said period.

An Infrastructure fund will provide you opportunities to invest in infrastructure which could range from toll roads, airports, and rail facilities to power, telecoms and other utilities but is not limited to such.

Interim dividend is the return paid to investors during an accounting period.

Management fee is the renumeration paid to the asset manager in performance of their duties to the fund.

The minimum holding period is the least period where an investment has to be held in a fund once purchased and should not be withdrawn without incurring a penalty.

Money market mutual funds are low risk funds that invest in money market instruments such as treasury bills, commercial papers, bank deposits, etc. With current regulations, no instrument in the fund should have a maturity of more than 364 days an average maturity of no more than 90 days.

A mutual fund custodian is an independent party appointed and responsible for holding and securing the assets of a mutual fund.

Mutual funds are set up by a fund manager and are approved and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A mutual fund allows you to combine savings with other investors and get it managed by a professional fund manager. The assets of the fund are held separately by a custodian and monitored by a trustee.

NAV means Net Asset Value of a fund. It is calculated in accordance with regulatory guidelines which is usually total assets less total liabilities.

This is the NAV divided by the total number of units. NAV per unit and unit price are used interchangeably.

NAV volatility is the swing – upwards or downwards of the NAV per unit over a period.

Offer price is the price at which units of a fund are bought by investors.

An open ended fund is a fund that allows continuous inflow and outflow of funds by investors. Units are created as new investors buy into the fund and units are cancelled when existing investors exit the fund. The process is managed by the fund manager.

A pension fund is a collection of, or pool of funds created and maintained by a PENCOM regulated entity for the purpose of providing and generating regular income for individuals at the end of the working life (retirement).

Pension funds are regulated by the National Pension Commission (Pencom) and help you save for retirement. The funds are managed and administered by a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) and the assets held separately by a Pension Fund Custodian (PFC).

A performance fee means a fee paid to a manager under certain circumstances where the manager generates a return more than a defined benchmark.

PFA means Pension Fund Administrator. This is the regulated firm set up specifically to administer and manage pension funds.

PFC means Pension Fund Custodian. This is an independent firm set up specifically to hold pension assets. 

The prospectus is a document describing the major features of a fund.

Real Estate investment funds, also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are funds that owns, operates, and maintains income producing properties (real estate). They generate a steady stream of income for investors and may offer some capital appreciation too.

RSA means Retirement Savings Account. It is an individual’s account set up with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) with a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN) to which the individuals pension contributions are managed.

Shari’ah compliant funds are mutual funds setup to comply with Islamic law. These funds allow investors to invest their money in instruments and companies that engage in behaviour according to Shari’ah law.

A Trade Group is an organisation put together by its members and established to promote the interests of the industry and its representative members.

The trustee is the independent party appointed for the fund to ensure that regulations are complied with and the interests of the unitholders are protected.

The trustee fee is the renumeration paid to the trustee in performance of their duties to the fund.

The price of a fund calculated at a particular point, usually daily in accordance with the laid down rules and principles. Unit price and NAV per unit are used interchangeably.

The unit price return is a calculation of the change of the unit price over a defined period. This period could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or any other defined period.

USD funds, are funds that invest in US$ denominated instruments, e.g., Eurobonds, US$ bank deposits, etc.

Yield is the returns generated from an investment over a particular period.