<topic sku="dlxbiz" tNum="288574" author="sallyh" xmlns="x-schema:hhTopicSchema.xml"><index><title>Learn about asset classes</title><category>investing</category><klink type="cncpt">Tell me about asset classes</klink></index>
<content>
<p>Financial planners group investments into asset classes based partially on their <glossary>market capitalization</glossary>. How your investments are divided, or allocated, among those classes is an important investment consideration.</p>
<p>You can use Money to figure out how your investments are allocated. Money reviews your portfolio and assigns many of your investments to asset classes. For stocks and certain mutual fund holdings, Money uses the investment's <glossary>ticker symbol</glossary> and MSN Money to retrieve asset class information. For bonds, CDs, some money market funds, and other investments, Money uses the data you provide when you add the investment to your investment accounts. You also may need to manually assign an asset class to an investment after you've created it.</p>
<p>Your assets are assigned to one of these classes:</p>
<ul>
<li><emph>Small-cap investments.</emph> Stocks or funds with a market capitalization of less than $1 billion.</li>
<li><emph>Mid-cap investments.</emph> Stocks or funds with a market capitalization between $1 and $5 billion.</li>
<li><emph>Large-cap investments.</emph> Stocks or funds with a market capitalization of more than $5 billion.</li>
<li><emph>Bonds.</emph> Corporate or government bonds.</li>
<li><emph>Cash.</emph> CDs, money market funds, and traditional savings accounts.</li>
<li><emph>Other.</emph> Investments not included in the other asset classes.</li>
</ul>
<p>Market capitalization is determined by multiplying the number of a company's shares by the share price. Depending on the total, it is called a small-cap, mid-cap, or large-cap investment.</p>
<p>Money determines your asset allocation using the historical performance and risk level of each asset class, together with the percentage of your assets in each class.</p>
<p>In the Asset Allocation report, you can review your asset allocation in an individual account, in a group of accounts, or in your entire portfolio.</p>
</content>
<footer>
<extend>
<tease>How are mutual funds classified?</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Mutual funds consist of groups of stock and other investments. For example, a mutual fund may be 50% large-cap and 50% mid-cap. You can enter the asset class or classes for a mutual fund. <alink type="prcdr" href="Changetheassetclassforaninvestment.xml"/></p>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>How do I view the Asset Allocation report?</tease>
<reveal>
<ol>
<li>On the <emph>Investing</emph> menu, click <emph>Investment Reports</emph>.</li>
