How to Get Information on Mutual Fund Year-End Distributions

A year-end fund distribution will result in a share price decline.
i Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images

Mutual funds offer a wide range of benefits for investors and the function of a fund is pretty easy to understand. The one item which sometimes confuses investors is the payment of year-end distributions. Distributions are mandatory for a fund if the fund incurred net gains or income for the year. Distributions are a taxable item for fund investors. Funds in which you are invested will send out a year-end statement which includes the distributions paid on your account. For funds you do not own, or if you misplaced the statement, the mutual fund family will publish year-end distributions for any fund which made a payout.

Step 1

Locate the mutual fund family website for a specific fund for which you want to find the year-end distributions. A search engine search for the fund family should produce a link directly to the home page of the mutual fund family.

Step 2

Locate the search box on the mutual fund family home page and perform a search for "year end distributions" -- quote marks not required. In most cases the first item on the search results will be the Web page for the year-end distributions from the previous year. Select the Web page for the distributions. Every fund from the family which paid a distribution will be listed.

Step 3

Write down the distribution amounts for the mutual fund or funds for which you want the information. Note the different categories of distributions including long-term capital gains, short-term capital gains and dividends.

the nest

×