As an investment tool, securities investment funds pool the funds of many investors, which are managed by fund custodians (such as banks), managed and used by professional fund management companies, and realize the purpose of income by investing in securities such as stocks and bonds.
for individual investors, if you have 1, 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 subscribe for an open-end fund, you will become the holder of the fund, and the above 1, yuan will be converted into a certain share of fund units after deducting the subscription fee. All the holders' investments 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 profound theoretical foundation of investment analysis and rich practical experience, and study financial products such as stocks and bonds in a scientific way to make portfolio investments and avoid risks.
accordingly, every year, the fund management company will withdraw management fees from the fund assets 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 subscription fees, redemption fees and conversion fees directly. Closed-end fund holders should pay trading commissions when buying and selling fund units.
There are several types of funds
◇ According to the organizational form, there are two types of funds: corporate funds and contractual funds. At present, domestic funds are all contractual.
◇ According to whether the fund scale is fixed or not, it can be divided into closed-end funds and open-end funds.
by mid-September 23, there were 86 domestic securities investment funds, with a total scale of 161.6 billion fund units, including 54 closed-end funds and 32 open-end funds.
American mutual fund industry has developed rapidly since 197s. As of July 23, there are about 8,3 mutual funds (open-end funds) in the United States, with a net asset value of $687 billion, of which more than 7% of the assets are held by individual investors. American households' investment in mutual funds has increased steadily since 199. According to the statistics of the Association of Investment Companies in May 22, there are 54.2 million households (94.9 million individual investors) holding * * * mutual funds, accounting for about half of American households. In 199, 23.4 million households participated in the same fund investment, accounting for 25%.
according to different investment objects, it can be divided into stock funds, bond funds, mixed funds, money market funds, futures funds and option funds.
according to the characteristics of investment operation, it can be divided into growth funds, income funds and balanced funds.
when Morningstar)1985 introduced the fund star rating system in 1985, the funds in the American market were divided into four categories according to their asset distribution: American equity funds, international equity funds, taxable bond funds and municipal bond funds. In 22, based on the above classification, Morningstar further subdivided the fund types into 5 types according to the investment style, investment industry and region.
Clarify several 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 many stocks, which can effectively spread risks and have relatively stable returns; However, a single stock investment can not fully disperse risks, so the returns fluctuate greatly and the risks are great.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇967 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 investment in the securities market, to bear the investment risk. The interest income of savings deposits is fixed, while 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
Bonds are creditor-debtor relationship documents that stipulate that the principal and interest will be repaid on schedule. Domestic bonds include national debt, corporate debt and financial debt, 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 2% interest tax, and there are certain credit risks. In contrast, the income of funds mainly investing in stocks is relatively unstable and the risk is relatively high; Bond funds that only invest in bonds can improve the stability of returns and spread risks with the help of portfolio investment.
funds are risky
investment funds are risky. In other words, the 1, yuan you used to buy the fund at first 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 that have a clear guarantee clause 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.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇967 Because the subscription fee and redemption fee are not low together, and the fluctuation of the net value of the fund is far less than that of the stock. Funds are suitable for long-term investment with stable income and low risk.