Equity mutual funds

An open-ended fund operated by an investment companywhich raises money from shareholders and invests in agroup of assets, in accordance with a stated set ofobjectives. mutual funds raise money by selling shares of the fund to the public, much like any other type of company can sell stock in itself to the public. Mutual funds then takethe money they receive from the sale of their shares (along with any money made from previous investments) and use it to purchase various stocks. In return for the money they give to the fund when purchasing shares, shareholders receive an equity position in the fund and, in effect, in each of its underlying securities. For most mutual funds, shareholders are free to sell their shares at any time, although the price of a share in a mutual fund will fluctuatedaily, depending upon the performance of the securitiesheld by the fund. Benefits of mutual funds includediversification and professional money management. Mutual funds offer choice, liquidity, and convenience, but chargefees and often require a minimum investment. A closed-end fund is often incorrectly referred to as a mutual fund, but is actually an investment trust. There are many types of mutual funds, including aggressive growth fund, asset allocation fund, balanced fund, blend fund, capital appreciation fund, clone fund, closed fund, crossover fund, equity fund, fund of funds, global fund, growth fund, growth and income fund, hedge fund, income fund, index fund, international fund, regional fund, sector fund,specialty fund, and stock fund.