As an investment tool, securities investment fund gathers the funds of many investors, and is managed by fund trustees (such as banks) and professional fund management companies, so as to achieve the purpose of income by investing in stocks, bonds and other securities.

For individual investors, if you have 6,543,800 yuan to invest, but the amount is not enough to buy a series of different types of stocks and bonds, or you simply have no time and energy to choose stocks and bonds, buying funds is a good choice. For example, if you buy an open-end fund, you become the holder of the fund. The above 65,438,000 yuan will be converted into a certain share of the fund after deducting the subscription fee. The investments of all holders together constitute the assets of the fund, and the professional team of the fund management company uses the fund assets to buy stocks and bonds to form the investment portfolio of the fund. The fund share you hold is the epitome of the above portfolio.

Expert financial management is an important feature of fund investment. Investment experts equipped by fund management companies generally have a profound theoretical foundation of investment analysis and rich practical experience, scientifically study financial products such as stocks and bonds, make portfolio investments, and avoid risks.

Accordingly, the fund management company will withdraw management fees from the fund assets every year to pay the company's operating costs. On the other hand, the fund custodian will also withdraw the custody fee from the fund assets. In addition, open-end fund holders need to pay the subscription fee, redemption fee and conversion fee directly. Closed-end fund holders should pay trading commissions when buying and selling fund shares.

There are several types of funds.

According to the organizational form, funds are divided into two types: corporate funds and contractual funds. At present, domestic funds are all contractual.

According to whether the fund scale is fixed, it can be divided into closed-end funds and open-end funds.

By mid-September, 2003, there were 86 securities investment funds in China, with a total scale of161600 million fund shares, including 54 closed-end funds and 32 open-end funds.

Since 1970s, American mutual fund industry has developed rapidly. As of July 2003, there are about 8,300 mutual funds (open-end funds) in the United States with a net asset value of $687 billion, of which more than 70% of the assets are held by individual investors. American households' investment in mutual funds has increased steadily since 1990. According to the statistics of the Association of Investment Companies in May 2002, there are 54.2 million households (94.9 million individual investors) holding mutual funds, accounting for about half of American households. 23.4 million households in 1990 participated in the same fund investment, accounting for 25%.

According to the different investment objects, it can be divided into stock funds, bond funds, mixed funds, money market funds, futures funds, option funds and so on.

According to the characteristics of investment operation, it can be divided into growth funds, income funds and balanced funds.

When American Morningstar Company introduced the fund star rating system in 1985, it divided the funds in the American market into four categories according to their asset distribution: American stock funds, international stock funds, taxable bond funds and municipal bond funds. In 2002, based on the above classification, Morningstar further divided the fund types into 50 types according to the investment style, investment industry and region.

Clarify a few misunderstandings

Funds are not stocks.

Some investors confuse funds with stocks, but they are not. On the one hand, investors only entrust fund management companies to invest in stocks and bonds, while buying stocks becomes shareholders of listed companies. On the other hand, the fund invests in multiple stocks, which can effectively spread risks and the income is relatively stable; But a single stock investment can't completely spread the risk, so the return fluctuates greatly and the risk is great.

◇ Funds are different from savings.

Because open-end funds are sold by banks, many investors think that there is little difference between funds and bank deposits. In fact, there are essential differences between the two: savings deposits represent the credit of commercial banks, the principal is guaranteed, the interest rate is fixed, and there is basically no risk; The Fund invests in the securities market and bears its own investment risks. The interest income of savings deposits is fixed, and investment funds have the opportunity to share the benefits brought about by the rise of the basic stock market and bond market.

◇ funds are different from bonds

A bond is a certificate of creditor-debtor relationship that agrees to repay the principal and interest on schedule. Domestic bonds include government bonds, corporate bonds and financial bonds, and individual investors cannot buy financial bonds. National debt has no credit risk and interest is tax-free; Corporate bonds have a high interest rate, but they have to pay 20% interest tax, which has certain credit risks. In contrast, the income of funds that mainly invest in stocks is relatively unstable and the risk is relatively large; Bond funds that only invest in bonds can improve the stability of returns and spread risks with the help of portfolio investment.

The fund is risky.

Investment funds are risky. In other words, the 654.38+00,000 yuan that Yuan You used to buy the fund at the beginning is likely to lose money. Since the fund invests in securities, it must bear the investment risks in the basic stock market and bond market. Of course, except for capital preservation funds with clear protection clauses in the prospectus. In addition, when there is a huge redemption or suspension of redemption of open-end funds, the holders will face the risk of realizing difficulties.

The fund is suitable for long-term investment.

Some investors invest in funds with the mentality of getting short-term spreads in the stock market, such as buying and selling open-end funds frequently, and the results often end in disappointment. Because the subscription fee and redemption fee are not low together, and the fluctuation of the fund's net value is far less than that of stocks. This fund is suitable for long-term investment, with stable income and low risk.

2. What is national debt?

The so-called national debt is the debt borrowed by the state, that is, national debt, which is a written loan certificate issued by the state to investors to raise funds, and promises to pay interest on schedule according to the agreed conditions within a certain period of time and return the principal at maturity.

China's national debt refers to the national debt issued by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the central government. Guaranteed by the national financial reputation, the credibility is extremely high. It has always been called "Phnom Penh bond", and cautious investors like to invest in government bonds. There are three types of vouchers, physical vouchers and bookkeeping.

Types of national debt

There are many kinds of national debt, which can be divided into three types according to the form of national debt, namely: bearer (physical) national debt, voucher national debt and book-entry national debt. Bearer bonds are relatively rare, and the latter two are the main forms at present.

Bearer (physical) bonds

Bearer from bond is a kind of bond with no creditor's name or company name on its face, which usually appears in the form of physical bond, also known as physical bond or national debt.

Bearer from bond is a national debt with the longest issuing history in China. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the national debt issued in the 1950s and after 198 1 is mainly bearer from bond.

At the time of issuance, it is sold to the public through bank savings outlets, treasury bond service departments of financial departments and business outlets of treasury bond institutions. Investors can also use securities accounts to entrust securities institutions to buy on the stock exchange floor.

The cash payment in bearer securities is handled by banks, postal savings outlets and financial bond intermediaries; Or carry out on-site exchange at the trading place.

The general characteristics of bearer from bond are: anonymity, no loss reporting and listing. Because it is anonymous, it does not report the loss, and its security is not as good as that of voucher and bookkeeping treasury bills, but the purchase procedure is simple. Because it can be listed and transferred, it has strong liquidity. The listing transfer price depends on the supply and demand situation in the secondary market. When the market factors change, its price will fluctuate greatly, so it has the opportunity to obtain greater profits, but it is also accompanied by certain risks. Generally speaking, bearer from bond is more suitable for financial institutions and buyers with strong investment awareness.

(2) Voucher-type national debt

Voucher-type national debt refers to the national debt issued by the state by filling in the "treasury receipt voucher" instead of printing physical coupons. China began to issue voucher-type government bonds from 1994. Certificated government bonds are similar to bank time deposit certificates, and the interest rate is usually higher than that of bank deposits in the same period. They are similar to and superior to savings, and are often called "savings-type national debt", which is an ideal investment method for individual investors with the purpose of saving.

Voucher bonds are issued to the public through the savings outlets of banks and the treasury bond service department of the financial department, mainly for ordinary people. Investors can register and report the loss of interest from the date of purchase, but they cannot be listed and circulated.

If investors need to realize the voucher-type government bonds after purchasing them, they can redeem them in advance at the original purchase outlets. When redeeming in advance, in addition to repaying the principal, interest will be paid according to the actual holding days and the corresponding interest rate grade, and the handling agency will charge a handling fee of two thousandths of the redemption principal. For the voucher-type government bonds redeemed in advance, the handling outlets can also sell them twice.

Compared with savings, the main characteristics of voucher-type national debt are safety, convenience and moderate income. Specifically: 1. There are many sales outlets of voucher-type treasury bonds, which are convenient to purchase and redeem and simple in procedures; 2. You can report the loss in real name and keep it safe; 3. The interest rate is higher than the bank deposit rate of the same period 1-2 percentage points (but lower than bearer and book-entry treasury bonds), and the interest is calculated progressively according to the holding time when redeeming in advance; 4. Although the voucher-type treasury bonds cannot be listed and traded, they can be redeemed in advance, which is flexible and the location is nearby. If investors have special needs, they can exchange cash at the original point of purchase at any time; 5. The interest risk is small, and the interest is calculated in advance according to the holding period and the interest rate of the corresponding grade. The interest rates of all grades are higher than or equal to the bank deposit rates for the same period, so there is no risk that time savings deposits can only be withdrawn in advance and bear interest on demand; 6. There is no market risk, the certificate-based government bonds cannot be listed, and the price (principal and interest) at the time of early redemption does not change with the change of market interest rate, which can avoid market price risk.

(3) Book-entry treasury bonds

Book-entry treasury bonds, also known as paperless treasury bonds, refer to treasury bonds held by investors registered in securities accounts, and investors only obtain receipts or statements to confirm their ownership.

China introduced book-entry treasury bonds from 1994. The characteristic of book-entry treasury bonds is paperless. Investors do not get paper coupons or vouchers when they buy them, but record them in their own bond accounts. Its general characteristics are: 1. Book-entry treasury bonds can be registered to report the loss, and the issuance without bonds can prevent the loss, theft and forgery of securities, with good security; 2. It can be listed and transferred, with good liquidity; 3. The term is long and short, but it is more suitable for issuing short-term government bonds; 4. Book-entry treasury bonds are issued through the computer network of the exchange, which can reduce the cost of securities issuance; 5. After listing, the price will go with the market, and it is possible to get more benefits, but it is also accompanied by certain risks.

It can be seen that book-entry treasury bonds have the characteristics of low cost, good income, good security and strong liquidity.

Due to the issuance and trading characteristics of book-entry treasury bonds, it is mainly designed for individual investors with strong financial awareness and institutional investors with cash management needs to preserve and increase their assets. Investors trust it in the seats of designated securities firms, which is convenient for circulation and trading, strong in liquidity, not easy to lose, and can also obtain high returns by buying low and selling high.

Compared with bearer bonds, voucher bonds and book-entry bonds, they have their own characteristics. From the perspective of profitability, bearer bonds and book-entry bonds are slightly better than voucher bonds. Generally, the coupon rate of bearer bonds and book-entry bonds is slightly higher than that of voucher bonds with the same maturity. In terms of security, voucher-type treasury bonds are slightly better than bearer from bond and book-entry treasury bonds, and the latter two are slightly better. In terms of liquidity, book-entry treasury bonds are slightly better than bearer from bond's and bearer from bond's.