Style Box
A tool showing a fund's characteristics such as the investment philosophy, underlying investments and risks. This helps investors and investment companies easily understand and convey information about the fund.
The above mutual fund style box illustrates that the mutual fund is a large-cap, value-oriented fund. This conveys to investors that the fund is investing in well-established companies that are under- or fairly valued. The company will not be invested in small-cap, mid-cap or growth stocks.
Investopedia Commentary
The style box comprises shaded boxes signifying where the asset falls in relation to the factors represented of the style box. Depending on the style box, the vertical and horizontal axis will illustrate factors such as capitalization, investment style, maturity, credit quality or goals that the asset may or may not help the investor or investment company achieve. By classifying funds into style box categories, investors can easily find which funds meet their investment criteria. For example, an investor looking for very safe market exposure will not look at small-cap growth funds but will restrict themselves to funds that fall into the large value fund.
Related Links
Mutual Fund Basics Tutorial
Advantages Of Mutual Funds
Disadvantages of Mutual Funds
See also: Bond Fund, Capitalization, Growth Fund, Large-cap (Big-Cap), Mid-cap, Mutual Fund, Small Cap, Value Fund