Fund, in English, refers to a certain amount of funds set up for a certain purpose. It mainly includes trust and investment funds, provident funds, insurance funds, retirement funds and funds of various foundations.
From the accounting point of view, capital is a narrow concept, which refers to funds with specific purposes and uses. The fund we are talking about mainly refers to the securities investment fund.
According to different standards, securities investment funds can be divided into different types:
According to whether fund units can be increased or redeemed, they can be divided into open-end funds and closed-end funds. Open-end funds are not traded on the market (as the case may be), but are purchased and redeemed by banks, brokers and fund companies, and the fund scale is not fixed; Closed-end funds have a fixed duration and are generally listed and traded on the stock exchange. Investors buy and sell fund shares through the secondary market.
According to different organizational forms, it can be divided into corporate funds and contractual funds. A fund is established by issuing fund shares to establish an investment fund company, which is usually called a corporate fund; The establishment of fund managers, fund custodians and investors through fund contracts is usually called contractual funds. China's securities investment funds are all contractual funds.
According to the difference of investment risk and income, it can be divided into growth fund, income fund and balanced fund.
According to the different investment objects, it can be divided into four categories: bond funds, stock funds, money funds and hybrid funds.
Open-endfunds (LOF) are called "Listened Open-end Fund" or "open-end funds" in English, "listed open-end funds" in Chinese and * * * mutual funds abroad. In other words, after the issuance of listed open-end funds, investors can purchase and redeem fund shares at designated outlets, or buy and sell funds on exchanges.
However, if investors want to sell the fund shares purchased at designated outlets, they must go through certain transfer custody procedures; Similarly, if you want to redeem the fund shares you bought online on the exchange and redeem them at designated outlets, you must also go through certain transfer custody procedures. It is a fund with variable issuance, and the total number of fund shares (or units) can be increased or decreased at any time. Investors can purchase or redeem it at the business place designated by the fund manager according to the quotation of the fund. Compared with closed-end funds, open-end funds have the characteristics of unlimited issuance, transaction price based on net asset value, over-the-counter transaction and relatively low risk, which is especially suitable for small and medium-sized investors to invest.