• Individual Investor
  • Individual Investor

Three ways to invest in Thrivent funds

We’re here to help you invest with confidence.

MUTUAL FUNDS

Thrivent Account

You can purchase mutual funds right on our site with an online account.

Get started

Invest with a Thrivent account

  • Set up an account starting with as little as $50 per month.1
  • Access your online account at your convenience.
  • Purchase funds without transaction fees or sales charges.

MUTUAL FUNDS & ETFS

Financial Professional

For guidance when investing, ask a financial professional about investing in Thrivent mutual funds & ETFs.

Contact a Thrivent advisor

Invest with a financial professional

  • Receive investment help from an experienced professional.
  • Build a relationship through in-person meetings.
  • Get help planning for life’s goals such as saving and retirement.
  • Additional fees may apply.

MUTUAL FUNDS & ETFS

Brokerage Account

If you already have a brokerage account, our mutual funds & ETFs can be purchased through online brokerage platforms by searching for Thrivent Mutual Funds and ETFs.

Invest with a brokerage account

  • Add Thrivent Mutual Funds and ETFs to your investments within your existing portfolio.
  • Take advantage of your account to keep your investments in one place.
  • Additional fees may apply.
Not quite ready?

We want you to invest your money wisely and with confidence.
Here are some other options that may help you.

  • Take our quiz to determine your personal investment style.
  • Talk to your financial advisor about ETFs.
  • Sign up for our monthly investing insights newsletter.

 

Need more help?

If you need assistance, we’re here to help. Reach out to us via the phone, email, and support page information below.

 

This ETF is different from traditional ETFs. Traditional ETFs tell the public what assets they hold each day. This ETF will not. This may create additional risks for your investment. For example:

 - You may have to pay more money to trade the ETF’s shares. This ETF will provide less information to traders, who tend to charge more for trades when they have less information.

 - The price you pay to buy ETF shares on an exchange may not match the value of the ETF’s portfolio. The same is true when you sell shares. These price differences may be greater for this ETF compared to other ETFs because it provides less information to traders.

 - These additional risks may be even greater in bad or uncertain market conditions.

 - The ETF will publish on its website each day a “Proxy Portfolio” designed to help trading in shares of the ETF. While the Proxy Portfolio includes some of the ETF’s holdings, it is not the ETF’s actual portfolio.

The differences between this ETF and other ETFs may also have advantages. By keeping certain information about the ETF secret, this ETF may face less risk that other traders can predict or copy its investment strategy. This may improve the ETF’s performance. If other traders are able to copy or predict the ETF’s investment strategy, however, this may hurt the ETF’s performance. For additional information regarding the unique attributes and risks of the ETF, see the Principal Risks section of the prospectus.

1 New accounts with a minimum investment amount of $50 are offered through the Thrivent Mutual Funds "automatic purchase plan." Otherwise, the minimum initial investment requirement is $2,000 for non-retirement accounts and $1,000 for IRA or tax-deferred accounts, minimum subsequent investment requirement is $50 for all account types. Account minimums for other options vary.

Thrivent ETFs may be purchased through your financial professional or brokerage platforms.

Contact your financial professional or brokerage firm to understand minimum investment amounts when purchasing a Thrivent ETF.

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MUTUAL FUND FOCUS

What is a mutual fund?

Young adult woman looking at mutual funds on a tablet in a coffee shop

Key points

A good diversification opportunity

Mutual funds help investors diversify their investments across several securities (stocks and bonds) in a single investment.

Choosing the best option

Choosing a mutual fund depends on your stage in life, financial goals and the level of risk you’re willing to take on in exchange for potential return.

Over half of American households are invested in mutual funds,1 and it’s easy to understand why. Mutual funds offer access to the stock and bond markets and may provide great potential to grow your money or generate income. Whether you’re looking to invest for the short term or the long haul, mutual funds may be flexible enough to meet your needs.

Definition of a mutual fund

A mutual fund is a collection of stocks and/or bonds selected by a professional fund manager based on a specific investment strategy. 

Some funds, such as asset allocation funds, are designed to align with the level of risk investors are comfortable with in exchange for greater growth potential. Other funds are designed to focus holdings on particular sectors of the economy, like natural resources or utilities. There are also funds targeted to match specified investing goal timelines, and funds that focus on certain types of stocks and bonds. 

The list goes on. This variety of investing approaches and structures is one of the many appealing qualities of mutual funds. No matter what your style or goal, there’s a fund out there for you. 

Why choose a mutual fund?

Mutual funds help investors diversify their investments across several securities (stocks and bonds) in a single investment. Creating a similar portfolio on your own by buying individual stocks in several companies would take a lot of time, money and expertise.

With a mutual fund, you’re investing in all the underlying securities that have been pre-selected for you by the fund manager. In addition, spreading your money across a larger number of securities can help manage risk and volatility. Keep in mind, though, that while this diversification can help mitigate the volatility of the mutual fund, it will not eliminate it.

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How do mutual funds work?

When you invest in a mutual fund, you’re buying shares of it based on the value of the fund’s assets at that time (its net asset value, or NAV). The fund’s NAV can move up or down daily depending on how the individual stocks, bonds or other securities in the fund are performing in the market. Knowing the mix of a fund’s assets helps determine how much market movement may impact the fund’s daily NAV.

For example, if a fund’s strategic goal is aggressive long-term growth, it may hold stock in companies that experience more day-to-day price fluctuations but have the potential for greater gains in value over time. When you hear the phrase “risk tolerance,” it refers to how much of this market volatility you’re willing to endure for the potential of a future benefit.

How do mutual funds generate returns?

Mutual fund returns can be distributed in two different ways:

  • When the fund sells off some of its holdings at a profit, your share of the profit from that sale (minus the fund’s operating expenses) is paid to you. This is called a capital gain. Typically, these profits are distributed once a year.
  • A dividend, on the other hand, is a scheduled distribution of earnings on securities in the fund's portfolio and is typically in the form of a cash payment.

You can take these capital gain and dividend payments as cash or reinvest them by purchasing additional shares of the fund. There may be tax ramifications associated with reinvestments and distributions, so you’ll want to consider your overall goals and tax preferences before making a decision about distributions.

If the NAV of your mutual fund shares increases from what you paid initially, you can sell your shares and take the profit (minus any sales charges, fees or taxes). The amount you paid is called the “cost basis,” and the difference between that and what you sold the shares for may be taxable. You can find out more about cost basis in the Thrivent Mutual Funds Tax Resource Center. 

How do mutual funds compare to other investments?

Mutual funds are one of many investments you may choose. So, how do they compare to some other popular investment options?

Savings accounts
These accounts are a vital part of day-to-day finances but may offer a lower return when compared to mutual funds. However, these accounts are typically insured by either the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Mutual funds are not insured.

Stocks
Purchasing individual shares of stock can be expensive and risky since your investment is tied to a company’s financial health—good or bad—in addition to a potential host of other factors. A mutual fund allows you to include stocks as part of your investment mix, but to diversify them among different companies. In this way, a bad day for some stocks could be offset by a good day for others, giving you some protection from market fluctuations.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
ETFs are often compared to mutual funds in that both are made up of assets like stocks, bonds and other securities, but there are important differences. Unlike mutual funds, ETFs trade like a stock and typically incur sales commission fees with every purchase. ETFs may have lower expenses than similar mutual funds because their operating expenses may be lower. Whereas ETF prices fluctuate throughout the day just like stocks, the price of a mutual fund does not vary since it is set at the end of each trading day.

Take a look at Thrivent mutual funds

Ultimately, choosing a mutual fund depends on your stage in life, financial goals and the level of risk you’re willing to take on in exchange for potential return. Thrivent’s investment team brings deep expertise and proprietary research to actively managing each fund. When you choose to invest in Thrivent mutual funds, you’ll benefit from the expertise of our investment professionals and the convenience and choices we provide to make investing easier. See also Mutual fund investing made easy.

 



1 “Share of households owning mutual funds in the United States from 1980 to 2023.” Statista. June 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/246224/mutual-funds-owned-by-american-households/. July 2024.

New accounts with a minimum investment amount of $50 are offered through the Thrivent Mutual Funds "automatic purchase plan." Otherwise, the minimum initial investment requirement is $2,000 for non-retirement accounts and $1,000 for IRA or tax-deferred accounts, minimum subsequent investment requirement is $50 for all account types. Account minimums for other options vary.

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