Types of fund and the basic functions?
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I assume you mean mutual funds.  \n\nThere are a lot of types.  They all have the same basic function--to pool individual investors' moneys and invest those moneys for the individuals hopefully with a decent return.\n\n1 index funds.  These are funds that attempt to match the returns of particular indexes. They are unmanaged and have very low expenses.  They are relatively new.  There are maybe 200 to 400 different index funds indexing everything one can imagine from the price of gold to the S&P 500. Many but not all are traded like stocks.\n\n2. managed equity funds.  These invest in stocks.  There are many different types of these.  Some invest in growth stocks, some in small cap stocks, some in value stocks, some in foreign stocks and everything else for that matter.  Many of these can be purchased directly from mutual fund companies.  They come in three different types. 1. ones with front end loads normally 7.75%. 2. ones with no front end loads. 3. closed end funds that are traded like stocks.  \n\n3.  managed bond funds.  These invest in bonds.  Some in taxable bonds and some in tax free bonds. \n\n4. Unit trusts.  These buy a pool of bonds and do not manage them.  They have very low fees.
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Invest in HDFC Prudence........]\nYou can get more infos at\nhttp://www.valueresearchonline.com\nhttp://www.moneycontrol.com/mutualfundindia/\nhttp://mutualfunds.moneycontrol.com/mf/bestpicks/index.php\n\nYou can select the fund depending uopn your preferences and risk taking ability.
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1) ETFs are essentially "static" as to buying and selling costs, whereas mutual funds are constantly turning over shares.\n2)  ETFs and foreign stocks:  Since ETFs are relatively static, the "set-up" commissions paid are one-shot costs
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Mutual funds are a group of investors, that usually don't have enough money at one time, pooling there money together to maximize their buying power and  with more money they buy many different stocks in many different companies so that they limit their risk of loss by not investing in one company( or putting your eggs in one basket) Do to the fact that they pool their money the mutual fund can then afford a professional fund manager to pick which stocks, bonds, or money markets to invest in.  Also there are many types of funds, some balanced meaning they invest in all three, stocks, bonds, and money markets, simultaneously and some invest all in stocks, or bonds, or money markets individually. Anyway that is another big discussion. I hope that this helps you out.\n\nRemember mutual funds will never have the big returns of individual stocks but there wont be the losses either.\n\nAverage gains of 8% to 12% over the life of the fund should not be too hard to get.
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Hmm...I found a few things that might be helpful, in order of usefulness:\n\nhttp://www2.barchart.com/tools.asp\n\nhttp://www.thefinancials.com/mfr_free.html\n\nhttp://www.bravenet.com/?afilid=3116782582
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you can find lots of easy-to-read explanations of mutual funds here: http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics\n\nbse sensex refers to the bombay stock exchange, the major trading index for india: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSE_Sensex\n\nyou can trade for free on the bse sensex here: http://bsesensex.freetradingsystem.net/?OVRAW=BSE_Sensex&OVKEY=bse%20sensex&OVMTC=standard
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I generally find that Fortune magazine and Investor's have good advice.  There are so many funds to choose from that you really need to spend some time reading about them.
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There is a huge difference.\n\nA mutual fund is an investment portfolio where lots of people pool their money in order to buy a well diversified portfolio.  Some people may put in a little while others may put in a lot.  Each owns a piece tht is proportional to the amount they put in.\n\nA trust fund is money governed by a legal contract where a really rich person puts aside part of his money for someone -- usually an underage child.  The trustee (usually a law firm) then manages the money until the person comes of age.  They often make decisions about what can be taken out of the fund before the person gets control.
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Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund\nYour own personal foundation
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If you doing research on funds then: \nwww.morningstar.com\n\nIf you investing in funds then it's good to open an account with large fund family such as:\nwww.fidelity.com\nwww.vanguard.com\nwww.troweprice.com
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under 1% is low, and probably doesn't include hidden fees.  in theory, the lower the expenses, the less actively managed the fund is (ie index funds)       try putnam, 100% of funds have expense ratio below Lipper average  (all actively managed).  don't pick a fund solely by its expenses...you get what you pay for!
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ETFs.  Mutual funds have to distribute any capital gains or dividends to the investor each year.  ETFs have no distributions.
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Mutual fund schemes may be classified on the basis of its structure and its investment objective. \n\nBy Structure: \n\nOpen-ended Funds An open-end fund is one that is available for subscription all through the year. These do not have a fixed maturity. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value ("NAV") related prices. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity.\n\nClosed-ended Funds A closed-end fund has a stipulated maturity period which generally ranging from 3 to 15 years. The fund is open for subscription only during a specified period. Investors can invest in the scheme at the time of the initial public issue and thereafter they can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where they are listed. In order to provide an exit route to the investors, some close-ended funds give an option of selling back the units to the Mutual Fund through periodic repurchase at NAV related prices. SEBI Regulations stipulate that at least one of the two exit routes is provided to the investor.\n\nInterval Funds Interval funds combine the features of open-ended and close-ended schemes. They are open for sale or redemption during pre-determined intervals at NAV related prices.\n\nBy Investment Objective:\n\nGrowth Funds The aim of growth funds is to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long- term. Such schemes normally invest a majority of their corpus in equities. It has been proven that returns from stocks, have outperformed most other kind of investments held over the long term. Growth schemes are ideal for investors having a long-term outlook seeking growth over a period of time.\n\nIncome Funds The aim of income funds is to provide regular and steady income to investors. Such schemes generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds, corporate debentures and Government securities. Income Funds are ideal for capital stability and regular income.\n\nBalanced Funds The aim of balanced funds is to provide both growth and regular income. Such schemes periodically distribute a part of their earning and invest both in equities and fixed income securities in the proportion indicated in their offer documents. In a rising stock market, the NAV of these schemes may not normally keep pace, or fall equally when the market falls. These are ideal for investors looking for a combination of income and moderate growth.\n\nMoney Market Funds The aim of money market funds is to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income. These schemes generally invest in safer short-term instruments such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money. Returns on these schemes may fluctuate depending upon the interest rates prevailing in the market. These are ideal for Corporate and individual investors as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods.\n\nLoad Funds A Load Fund is one that charges a commission for entry or exit. That is, each time you buy or sell units in the fund, a commission will be payable. Typically entry and exit loads range from 1% to 2%. It could be worth paying the load, if the fund has a good performance history.\n\nNo-Load Funds A No-Load Fund is one that does not charge a commission for entry or exit. That is, no commission is payable on purchase or sale of units in the fund. The advantage of a no load fund is that the entire corpus is put to work.\n\nOther Schemes: \n\nTax Saving Schemes These schemes offer tax rebates to the investors under specific provisions of the Indian Income Tax laws as the Government offers tax incentives for investment in specified avenues. Investments made in Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) and Pension Schemes are allowed as deduction u/s 88 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Act also provides opportunities to investors to save capital gains u/s 54EA and 54EB by investing in Mutual Funds, provided the capital asset has been sold prior to April 1, 2000 and the amount is in
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Just so you know, Mutual funds aren´t for everyone.  Personally, I wouldn´t invest in them unless I had to.  For more detail on that, just do a search for where I´ve addressed this question in other answers.\n\nHowever to answer your question, there are several rankings of mutual funds.  Here are some of the sources with appropriate link.\n\nLots of sources for Mutual fund reports that you´re looking for.  Here are some.\n\nMoney Magazine\nhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/indexfunds.html\n\nMorningstar\nhttp://www.morningstar.com/Cover/Funds.html?pgid=hetabfunds\n\nKiplingers\nhttp://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/investing/funds/?\n\nMutualFundRankings\nhttp://mutualfundrankings.org/\n\nAnd you may want to take a look at this article on mutual funds too just so you have a little more info if you´ve got tax concerns.\n\nhttp://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/93/930429Arc3288.html\n\nIf you have any questions, please let me know.\n\nHope that helps!\n\n\n\nInfo on mutual funds\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/mutualfunds1/a/aa031501.htm\n\nInvesting for Beginners\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/popular.htm
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The advantages of mutual funds:\n\nsome funds specialize in areas that the average investor would have a difficult time investing in, such as stocks of foreign countries and stocks of small cap companies for example. \n\nmutual funds allow for diversification without having to buy a bucket of stocks.  \n\neasy to purchase and sell for the small investor.\n\ndisadvantages:\n\n70% of mutual funds under perform the market in general. Not a great record. \n\nmany mutual funds are bloated. It is difficult to invest a billion dollars.\n\nmutual funds have to declare and pay capital gains once a year on which one will have to pay taxes. If you buy and hold a sound quality stock, that is not the case.
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Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, etc...
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(HXI, IFN, IIF, PGJ)\n\nhttp://etfinvestor.com/article/4971