Understanding mutual funds

These funds typically strive to beat the market. They're overseen by portfolio managers who select securities they think will outperform benchmarks. As such, actively managed funds are usually more expensive.

These funds, known as index funds, are designed to track—rather than beat—a specific index, such as the S&P 500^®. They can be a low-cost way to invest.

Both generally provide broad, diversified exposure to an asset class, region, or a specific market niche, without having to buy lots of individual securities. Will outperform benchmarks. As such, actively managed funds are usually more expensive. 

Mutual fund trades are executed once a day, at a single price. ETFs are "exchange-traded" and can be bought and sold intraday at different prices. 

These funds aim to meet the fund's objectives by investing in traditional assets (equities, fixed income, and/or cash) using traditional strategies (fundamental relative value, indexing, etc.). A large majority of funds fall into this category.

These funds aim to meet the fund's objectives through non-traditional investments and trading strategies, such as investing in commodities, or making investments based on environmental or social governance guidelines.