As we embark on another new year, one of the more common resolutions is not only to increase our level of savings, but also to develop additional sources of wealth and revenue generation. The securities market presents many different options for individuals to achieve these goals with products such as equities, bonds and Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), the latter of which is the focus of this week’s article. CISs, which are generally known to the public as mutual funds, are investment vehicles, which allow for the pooling of investor resources to create a more diversified portfolio while taking advantage of the benefits of large-scale investment opportunities. In mutual funds, investors effectively own portions of the overall pool through units/shares, which are proportional to their contributions. The mutual fund manager utilises this pool of money to invest in securities congruent with the fund’s investment strategy. Investors can earn returns through distributions or capital appreciation depending on the fund’s performance.
