Fund Types and Investment Mandates

These pages group funds by what they are designed to own or accomplish.

The section covers allocation style, asset class, geography, risk profile, income objective, lifecycle mandate, and specialty fund strategies.

In this section

• Allocation, Hybrid, and Lifecycle Funds
  Balanced fund, endowment fund, guaranteed investment fund, hybrid fund, life-cycle fund, and target-date fund terms.
  • Balanced Fund
    Fund designed to combine stocks, bonds, and sometimes cash so investors get a blended risk and return profile in one vehicle.
  • Endowment Fund: A Financial Foundation for Long-Term Support
    An Endowment Fund is a financial vehicle where the principal is preserved, and only the generated income is used for specific purposes. It ensures long-term financial support for organizations, institutions, or programs.
  • Guaranteed Investment Fund (GIF): Definition, Mechanism, and Types
    Explore the definition, functioning, and different types of Guaranteed Investment Funds (GIFs), along with key considerations, examples, and FAQs.
  • Hybrid Fund: Comprehensive Guide to Mixed Asset Class Investment Funds
    Explore the definition, benefits, types, and examples of hybrid funds, investment vehicles that diversify across multiple asset classes for balanced portfolio management.
  • Life-Cycle Fund: Overview, Mechanics, and Examples
    An in-depth guide to Life-Cycle Funds, detailing their operation, types, benefits, and examples. Understand how these funds adjust asset allocation over time to meet investment goals.
  • Target-Date Fund
    Fund that adjusts its allocation over time toward a target year, usually so risk falls as retirement or another goal approaches.
• Equity, Growth, and Style Funds
  Aggressive growth, common stock, equity, growth, growth-and-income, mid-cap, small-cap, value, and vice-fund terms.
  • Equity Fund Basics And Trusts
    Investing terms for equity fund basics and trusts.
    • Common Stock Fund: A Fund Invested Primarily in Ordinary Equity Shares
      Learn what a common stock fund is and why it behaves differently from bond funds or balanced funds.
    • Equity Funds Investment: Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide
      A detailed and comprehensive guide for beginners looking to invest in equity funds, covering the basics, types, benefits, and strategies.
    • Equity Trusts: Trusts That Invest Exclusively In Stocks
      Comprehensive guide to understanding equity trusts, their functionalities, types, special considerations, historical context, and applicability in investment strategies.
  • Growth Value And Style Funds
    Investing terms for growth value and style funds.
    • Growth and Aggressive Growth Funds
      Focused fund entries about growth funds, go-go funds, and growth-and-income mandates.
      • Aggressive Growth Fund
        High-volatility growth-oriented fund that prioritizes capital appreciation and usually accepts more risk than an ordinary growth fund.
      • Go-Go Fund: Definition, Mechanism, and Impact
        A comprehensive exploration of Go-Go Funds, including their definition, how they work, and their potential consequences on investors' portfolios.
      • Growth and Income Fund
        Fund style that tries to combine capital appreciation with current income rather than focusing on only one of those goals.
      • Growth Fund
        Fund style focused on capital appreciation, usually through stocks of companies expected to grow faster than average.
    • Style, Size, and Thematic Funds
      Focused fund entries about value, size, and thematic equity-fund mandates.
      • Mid-Cap Fund: Meaning, Overview, Examples, and Benefits
        A comprehensive guide to understanding mid-cap funds, including their meaning, investment strategies, benefits, and examples.
      • Small-Cap: Small Capitalization Stocks and Mutual Funds
        An overview of small-cap stocks, including their characteristics, market capitalization, and volatility compared to larger companies.
      • Value Fund Investment Strategies: How Funds Try to Buy Stocks for Less Than They Are Worth
        Learn how value funds invest, what managers mean by undervaluation, and why value strategies can lag for long periods before mean reversion appears.
      • Vice Fund: Understanding Investments in Sin Stocks
        The Vice Fund is a mutual fund managed by USA Mutuals that focuses on vice industries considered to be socially irresponsible investments or 'sin stocks'. This article will explore its meaning, working mechanism, and investment strategies.
• Fixed-Income, Income, and Stable-Value Funds
  Asset-backed, bond, debt, floating-rate, income, inflation-indexed, stable-value, and yield-tilt fund terms.
  • Bond and Debt Funds
    Focused fund entries about bond funds, debt funds, asset-backed funds, and floating-rate funds.
    • Asset-Backed Fund: A Fund Built Around Assets or Claims Secured by Them
      Learn what an asset-backed fund is, what it may hold, and why asset backing changes risk and return analysis.
    • Bond Fund
      Fund that primarily holds bonds and other fixed-income instruments, giving investors pooled exposure to credit, duration, and yield.
    • Debt Funds
      Debt funds pool fixed-income securities such as bonds and money-market instruments to provide income, liquidity, and diversified credit exposure.
    • Floating-Rate Fund
      Fund that mainly holds instruments with coupons that reset over time, often used when investors want less fixed-rate duration exposure.
  • Income, Stable Value, and Inflation Funds
    Focused fund entries about income funds, stable value funds, inflation-linked mutual funds, and yield-tilt funds.
    • Income Fund
      Fund built mainly to generate current distributions from bonds, dividend-paying stocks, or other income-producing holdings.
    • Mutual Funds with Inflation-Indexed Securities: Protecting Investments from Inflation
      A comprehensive guide to mutual funds that invest in inflation-indexed securities, providing protection against inflation through diversified and professionally managed portfolios.
    • Stable Value Fund
      Capital-preservation fund often used in retirement plans, typically built from fixed-income portfolios wrapped by contracts that smooth credited returns.
    • Yield Tilt Index Fund: An Index Fund That Overweights Higher-Yielding Securities
      Learn what a yield tilt index fund is, how it differs from a plain index fund, and what tradeoffs come with the tilt.
• Global, Emerging, and Foreign-Holding Funds
  Emerging market, global, international, and foreign-holding fund terms.
  • Emerging Market Funds
    Funds focused on developing economies, offering higher growth potential alongside greater political, currency, and market risk.
  • Global Fund
    Fund that invests across world markets, including the investor’s home country, rather than limiting itself to one domestic or foreign region.
  • International Funds
    Funds that invest outside the investor’s home country, often used to diversify geographic exposure without including domestic holdings.
  • Mutual Funds/ETFs with Foreign Holdings: Indirect Exposure to Foreign Markets
    A comprehensive guide to understanding mutual funds and ETFs that offer indirect exposure to foreign markets through pooled investments.