The term family of funds refers to the range of mutual funds offered by a single management company. Typically, a company's family of funds will provide individuals with the ability to select from a wide array of investment objectives.
Explanation
Also known as a mutual fund family, a family of funds is the selection of investment opportunities offered by a single management company. In order to attract and support a wide assortment of investment objectives, the family of funds will normally consist of mutual funds in a large number of categories.
A family of funds can include individual mutual funds that might be investing in a single sector of the economy as well as fulfilling an investment objective. For example, the offering of funds might include large cap stocks, mid cap stocks, small cap stocks, domestic stocks, international stocks, municipal bonds, high-yield bonds, fixed income and even money market.
Examples of family of funds include those offered by Fidelity Investments, Vanguard, American Fund, Franklin Templeton Investments and T. Rowe Price & Co.
The term hedge fund refers to an investment and business structure that pools capital from individuals and invests in a variety of securities. The objective of a hedge fund is to provide investors with above average returns by assuming above average risk.
The term aggressive growth fund refers to a portfolio of securities that attempts to maximize capital appreciation. There is a risk-reward trade off when investing in an aggressive growth fund; the greater returns associated with these funds means the investor is willing to accept more risk too.
The term value fund refers to a portfolio of stocks that are deemed to be undervalued by the market. The objective of a value fund includes not only providing investors with capital appreciation, but also a steady stream of dividends.
The term blend fund refers to a portfolio of securities that include both growth stocks as well as equities deemed to be undervalued by the market. The objective of a blend fund is to provide investors with higher than average capital appreciation.
The term vulture fund refers to a portfolio of investments that specialize in holding the securities of financially distressed organizations. Vulture funds provide their investors with higher than average yields by purchasing securities at depressed prices.
The term growth fund refers to a portfolio of stocks that are expected to provide above average earnings or revenue growth. The same equities that provide growth funds with the potential for higher than average returns will also have above average risk.