mutual fund

American  

noun

1. an investment company that issues shares continuously and is obligated to repurchase them from shareholders on demand.

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mutual fund British  

noun

1. British equivalent: unit trust.  an investment trust that issues units for public sale, the holders of which are creditors and not shareholders with their interests represented by a trust company independent of the issuing agency

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mutual fund Cultural  

1. A company organized for the purpose of making investments. A mutual fund gets its capital stock from private individual investors, who, in effect, allow the mutual fund to decide where to invest their money.

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Etymology

Origin of mutual fund

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mutual fund

For the market-making firms that help keep an ETF’s share price tightly coupled to the value of its underlying holdings, a mutual fund is a no-no.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Nehls only disclosed a handful of bank accounts, stock and a mutual fund — all worth less than $15,000, while listing liabilities in the form of revolving credit from three credit card companies.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

This being the “information age,” it would be understandable if investors sometimes feel inundated with too much information to wade through about the stocks in their mutual fund portfolios.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

How likely is it that over the next several decades you will do better than both the best investment newsletter and the best equity mutual fund?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

One group of mutual fund companies let preferred customers trade at preferred prices, and another group was charged with hiding management fees.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

• bond fund
• closed-end fund
• investment fund
• retirement plan