4 steps to selling a mutual fund
1. Contact your financial advisor or mutual fund company
Get in touch with the advisor who sold you the fund, or someone in their company. If you bought directly from the mutual fund company, contact them directly.
2. Ask about any fees or charges
You may pay fees to sell your mutual fund units or shares. Find out how much before you decide to sell. If you bought a mutual fund with a deferred sales charge, you may have to pay a sales charge. The size of the sales charge depends in part on how long you have held the fund, and the company you’re dealing with.
If you’re buying a fund with a deferred sales charge, ask if you can sell a certain number of units or shares (often 10%) for free each year.
3. Decide how many units or shares you want to sell
The price of most mutual funds is calculated at the end of each business day, so you won’t know how much you sold them for right away.
You may have to sign a form stating that you want to sell your units or shares. This stops anyone from selling them when you don’t want them to. For example, if you give the order to sell the units or shares over the phone, you may be asked to fax a confirming letter.
4. Give instructions on what to do with the money
You can have the advisor or company:
- send you a cheque,
- deposit the money in your bank account, or
- use it to buy other mutual funds or investments.
If you want to move your money to another fund at the same mutual fund company, you can usually do a simple exchange. This may save you some time and money.
Summary
- Contact the advisor or company
- Ask about any fees or charges
- Decide how many units or shares to sell
- Give instructions on what to do with the money
