How does a mutual fund and EFT fit in?

w00519773

I understand the difference between a unit fund and an investment trust i.e. a unit fund is open ended and an investment trust is closed ended (quoted on a stock exchange).  A hedge fund is when private investors pool their resources together.
What is a mutual fund and ETF? I believe an ETF is quoted on a stock exchange.  Is an ETF the same as an investment trust i.e. they are both quoted on a stock exchange.
Also, my pension plan offers over 100 "funds".  My stocks and shares ISA offers over 5,000 funds in its funds supermarket.  How do I know what types of fund it is?

Albermarle

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF): What an ETF Is and How to Buy Them (investopedia.com)
Exchange Traded Funds – What Are They and How to Invest In Them (usnews.com)

Another_Saver

Mutual funds, unit trusts, OEICs are functionally all the same. Mutual fund is an American term.

An ETF is open ended like a unit trust but trades on an exchange. There's a load of technical stuff that goes into making that possible, but functionally for a long term investor there's no real difference between an ETF and mutual fund. However different platforms have different charging structures for funds and ETFs, ETFs are normally treated under the same charging structure as shares and ITs. But for iWeb and Vanguard it's the same charging structure for both.

Normally in the UK when an investing platform uses the word fund they mean unit trusts and OEICs.

grumiofoundation

Another_Saver said:

Mutual funds, unit trusts, OEICs are functionally all the same. Mutual fund is an American term.

An ETF is open ended like a unit trust but trades on an exchange. There's a load of technical stuff that goes into making that possible, but functionally for a long term investor there's no real difference between an ETF and mutual fund. However different platforms have different charging structures for funds and ETFs, ETFs are normally treated under the same charging structure as shares and ITs. But for iWeb and Vanguard it's the same charging structure for both.

Normally in the UK when an investing platform uses the word fund they mean unit trusts and OEICs.

*vanguard does charge £7.50 to trade ETFs live. Free to deal ETFs (as for funds) at end of day with non-live prices. 

Another_Saver

grumiofoundation said:

Another_Saver said:

Mutual funds, unit trusts, OEICs are functionally all the same. Mutual fund is an American term.

An ETF is open ended like a unit trust but trades on an exchange. There's a load of technical stuff that goes into making that possible, but functionally for a long term investor there's no real difference between an ETF and mutual fund. However different platforms have different charging structures for funds and ETFs, ETFs are normally treated under the same charging structure as shares and ITs. But for iWeb and Vanguard it's the same charging structure for both.

Normally in the UK when an investing platform uses the word fund they mean unit trusts and OEICs.

*vanguard does charge £7.50 to trade ETFs live. Free to deal ETFs (as for funds) at end of day with non-live prices. 

Got lazy sorry

Alexland

w00519773 said:

My stocks and shares ISA offers over 5,000 funds in its funds supermarket.  How do I know what types of fund it is?

The user interface should help you understand what you are buying - which provider are you using?