Investing term
What is Mutual fund?
A pooled fund priced once per day at its net asset value. Shares bought and sold directly with the fund company.
A mutual fund pools money from many investors to buy a portfolio of stocks or bonds, priced once a day after the market closes at its net asset value. You buy and sell directly with the fund company, not on an exchange, and your order fills at that day's closing NAV rather than a live, second-by-second price.
It's a long-standing way to own a diversified, professionally run portfolio, and it remains the default inside many workplace retirement plans. The main cautions are cost and structure: many actively managed mutual funds charge more than index funds and underperform them, and some carry sales loads or higher minimums. Low-cost index mutual funds, however, are an excellent core holding.
A mutual fund fills at one price — its net asset value, struck after the close — not the live, all-day price an ETF trades at. That structure suits patient, automated investing.
For example
You invest $1,000 in a mutual fund and your order fills at that day's closing NAV — not the live, second-by-second price an ETF would trade at.
Learn it by doing
That's Mutual fund in theory — it clicks when you use it. Practise it hands-on in a free, interactive lesson (Stage 6, Index Funds, ETFs & Mutual Funds).
Try the free lesson →Why it matters to you
Mutual funds matter because they're still where a huge share of long-term money lives, especially in retirement plans, and because their once-a-day pricing shapes how you use them. That structure suits patient, automated investing — you can't day-trade a mutual fund — which is arguably a feature. The key decisions are the same as for any fund: favour low costs and broad diversification, and be wary of high fees and sales charges.
⚠ Paying a sales load or high fee
Some mutual funds carry a sales load — an upfront or exit charge — on top of their annual fee, and many active ones charge far more than a comparable index fund. These costs compound against you for years. Before buying, check for loads and compare the expense ratio to a low-cost index equivalent; cheaper is almost always better.