mutual fund

American  

noun

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

---

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

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of mutual fund

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Use a mutual fund or ETF indexed to the total stock market, including small- and midcap stocks as well as value stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Advisers would lose out on that if you redeem your shares but could theoretically earn another fee if you chose to reinvest the money into a mutual fund.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Unfortunately, Calvert’s mutual fund has a high expense ratio, at 1.24%.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

Artificial intelligence is coming for mutual fund managers, and they should be worried.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

Jim went into the insurance and mutual fund business, and from there he made the switch to banking.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

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