Numbers Don't Tell the Whole Story of Fund Risk

Investing is no science. It's an art. Yet all too often, we make the mistake of assuming that, because so much surrounding our mutual fund is numeric. The buy-and-sell decisions are mathematical.

Nothing could be further from the truth, especially when considering that one of the most difficult-to-understand (and measure) aspects of a mutual fund is its riskiness.

Let's take a quick tour of some of the tools available to assess your mutual fund's risk (or its close cousin, volatility). We'll look at what's the best way to use them to better understand your investments, and perhaps more importantly, why none of these tools alone will give you a truly full picture of your portfolio.

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