Glossary of funds

ByABC News
January 7, 2009, 3:48 PM

— -- Core: Mix growth and value strategies. Lipper groupings: large-company core (LCC); midcap core (MCC); small-cap core (SCC); multicap core (MLC). International funds have an "I," as in ILC for international large-cap core. Global funds are preceded by a G.

Equity-income(EI): Seek income and growth by investing in bonds and dividend-paying stocks.

Growth: Invest in companies whose earnings are expected to grow faster than average. Lipper classifications: large-company growth (LCG); midcap (MCG); small-cap (SCG); multicap (MLG).

Midcap (MC): Invest in midsize companies with market values of less than $5 billion.

Multicap: Can invest in stocks of any size company. Lipper categories: multicap growth (MLG); multicap value (MLV); multicap core (MLC).

Small-cap (SC): Invest in companies with market values of less than $1 billion.

S&P 500 (SP):Mirror the S&P 500 stock index.

Value: Buy stocks of out-of-favor companies selling for low prices relative to earnings. Classifications: large-company value (LCV); midcap value (MCV); small-cap value (SCV); multicap value (MLV).

Mixed-asset target (MXX): Invest in stocks, bonds, money market securities. (XX is the target year; M40 funds' target retirement year is 2040.)