A stock fund or equity fund is a fund that invests in Equities more commonly known as stocks. Such funds are typically held either in stock or cash, as opposed to bonds, notes, or other securities. This may be a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund. The objective of an equity fund is long-term growth through capital appreciation, although dividends and interest are also sources of revenue. Specific equity funds may focus on a certain sector of the market or may be geared toward a certain level of risk. Fund may refer to Funding, or providing capital. ... Equity investment generally refers to the buying and holding of shares of stock on a stock market by individuals and funds in anticipation of income from dividends and capital gain as the value of the stock rises. ... See stock (disambiguation) for other meanings of the term stock In financial terminology, stock is the capital raised by a corporation, through the issuance and sale of shares. ... Cash usually refers to money in the form of currency, such as bills or coins. ... In finance, a bond is a debt security, that is the issuer owes the holders a debt and is obliged to pay the principal and interest (the coupon), together with other obligations under the term of the issue, such as the obligation to give certain information. ... Securities are tradeable interests representing financial value. ... A mutual fund is a form of collective investment that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments, and/or other securities. ... Exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) are open-ended collective investment schemes, traded as shares on most global stock exchanges. ... A dividend is the distribution or sharing of parts of profits to a companys shareholders. ... In finance, interest has three general definitions. ...

Stock funds can be distinguished by several properties. Funds may have a specific style, for example, value or growth. Funds may invest in solely the securities from one country, or from many countries. Funds may focus on some size of company, that is, small-cap, large-cap, et cetera. Funds which are managed by professionals are said to be actively managed where as Index funds try as best as possible to mirror specific market indices. Small-cap refers to stocks that have a small market capitalization. ... Large-cap refers to stocks that have a large market capitalization. ... Active management refers to a portfolio management strategy where the manager makes specific investments with the goal of outperforming a benchmark index. ...

Fund Types

Index Fund

Stock funds may attempt to track an index these are called Index Funds. An example would be a S&P 500 Index Fund. Before chosing a peticular companie's index fund one should compare fees, to maximize returns. A stock market index is a listing of stocks, and a statistic reflecting the composite value of its components. ...

Growth Fund

Value Fund

Sector Fund

A Fund that tracks one area of industry, is called a Sector Fund. One example of a Sector Fund would be a fund which invests only in High Tech companies. These are typically higher risk (think tech boom and eventual bust).

Small Cap

Large Cap