Tracking Your Fund

So the average stock mutual fund is up 7.31% for the quarter and 24.89% year-to-date. How do you find out how your funds did?

You can’t just compare a fund’s share price from one date to another, because that won’t tell what you earned in dividend and/or capital gain payments in that time.

Best bet: Call your fund (most have toll-free phone numbers) and ask for the “total return” figures for the quarter and the year. Then compare those numbers to the averages for various fund categories, as shown in the accompanying chart--for example, small company, European, growth, etc.

Not sure in which category your fund belongs? Again, ask the fund. Most should know how they are grouped by Lipper Analytical Services, the best-known tracker of mutual fund performance.