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What is Mutual Fund? |
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Legally known as an "open-end company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the primary regulatory statute governing investment companies), a mutual fund is one of three basic types of investment companies available in the United States. Outside of the United States (with the exception of Canada, which follows the U.S. model), mutual fund is a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicle. In the United Kingdom and western Europe (including offshore jurisdictions), other forms of collective investment vehicle are prevalent, including unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), SICAVs and unitized insurance funds. In Australia the term "mutual fund" is generally not used; the name "managed fund" is used instead. However, "managed fund" is somewhat generic as the definition of a managed fund in Australia is any vehicle in which investors' money is managed by a third party (NB: usually an investment professional or organization). Most managed funds are open-ended (i.e., there is no established maximum number of shares that can be issued); however, this need not be the case. Additionally the Australian government introduced a compulsory superannuation/pension scheme which, although strictly speaking a managed fund, is rarely identified by this term and is instead called a "superannuation fund" because of its special tax concessions and restrictions on when money invested in it can be accessed. Types of mutual fundsOpen-end fund The term mutual fund is the common name for an open-end investment company. Being open-ended means that, at the end of every day, the fund issues new shares to investors and buys back shares from investors wishing to leave the fund. Mutual funds may be legally structured as corporations or business trusts but in either instance are classed as open-end investment companies by the SEC. Other funds have a limited number of shares; these are either closed-end funds or unit investment trusts, neither of which is a mutual fund. Exchange-traded funds A relatively new innovation, the exchange traded fund (ETF), is often formulated as an open-end investment company. ETFs combine characteristics of both mutual funds and closed-end funds. An ETF usually tracks a stock index (see Index funds). Shares are issued or redeemed by institutional investors in large blocks (typically of 50,000). Investors typically purchase shares in small quantities through brokers at a small premium or discount to the net asset value; this is how the institutional investor makes its profit. Because the institutional investors handle the majority of trades, ETFs are more efficient than traditional mutual funds (which are continuously issuing new securities and redeeming old ones, keeping detailed records of such issuance and redemption transactions, and, to effect such transactions, continually buying and selling securities and maintaining liquidity position) and therefore tend to have lower expenses. ETFs are traded throughout the day on a stock exchange, just like closed-end funds. Exchange traded funds are also valuable for foreign investors who are often able to buy and sell securities traded on a stock market, but who, for regulatory reasons, are unable to participate in traditional US mutual funds. Equity funds Equity funds, which consist mainly of stock investments, are the most common type of mutual fund. Equity funds hold 50 percent of all amounts invested in mutual funds in the United States. Often equity funds focus investments on particular strategies and certain types of issuers. |
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