Mutual funds have become popular among investors and they are easy to understand. They offer benefits and simplicity to investors with limited money, time, or knowledge. If you are still undecided about whether mutual funds are great for you, check out these advantages. Asset diversification is a key rule of investing for small investors and large ones. Diversification is the combination of various types of asset classes and investments within a portfolio. It helps in managing risk. To have a diversified portfolio, it is wise to purchase stocks that have different capitalization from various industries as well as bonds with different maturities from various issuers. This strategy may be costly for an individual investor. When you buy mutual funds, you get the advantage of instant asset allocation and diversification without the high cost that you would have incurred when creating individual portfolios. The downside to this is that a single mutual fund may not provide you with enough diversification. Check whether the fund is industry or sector specific. For instance, if you invest in a certain sector, you may have your money spread over multiple companies. However, if that sector falls, your investment may suffer. To understand economies of scale easily and quickly, think of volume discount; the more of an item you purchase, the cheaper it becomes. The same applies when buying and selling securities. Buying a single security at a given time will see you pay higher transaction fees. Mutual funds lower their investors' transaction costs by taking advantage of selling and buying volume.