An Investment Fund is a patrimony formed with the contributions of many investors, who are called "participants", and is managed by a specialized company, called "Sociedad Administradora", in accordance with the criteria established in a document that regulates the Fund activity and investments.
The funds can be open or closed. The open ones allow the entry or withdrawal of participants at all times. The closed ones do not allow the entry of new participants from the moment in which an amount previously fixed by the administrator has been collected and there is only the possibility of exiting under certain special conditions.
Players
- Administrating Company: It is a public limited company whose exclusive purpose is the administration and representation of the Fund. Participant: It is the one that has at least one participation in the Investment Fund. This participant can be a natural or legal person. Participation Certificates: It is the document that details the participant's contribution to the Investment Fund.
Classes of Funds
The Investment Funds can be of a character: Financial and non-Financial. Those of a financial nature are those whose main activity is the investment or administration of financial assets such as money, transferable securities, promissory notes, bills, certificates of deposit and any other commercial value. Those of a non-financial nature are those that operate on securities of another nature, mainly Real Estate Investment Funds.
Some Financial Funds are: Real Estate Investment Companies These are the stock companies with fixed or variable capital whose exclusive purpose is the acquisition, holding, general administration and sale of transferable securities.
Securities Investment Funds: They are considered the assets belonging to several investors, whose purpose is to invest in Transferable Securities and Financial Assets.
Investment Funds in Money Market Assets: These are the assets belonging to a plurality of investors, whose exclusive purpose is to carry out operations on money market assets, with the same purpose of compensation for risks and returns.
Others whose exclusive purpose is the investment or management of financial assets.
Some Non-Financial Funds are: Real Estate Investment Funds and Companies These are institutions that have invested resources in real estate dedicated to leasing. They may hold a portion of the funds in securities to meet their liquidity needs.
Types of Fund According to the Distribution of Benefits: Accumulation Funds These are those that do not distribute benefits and accumulate them daily at the value of the participation.
Distribution Funds: They are those that distribute all or part of the profits in money, in a similar way to the dividend of public limited companies.
Finally, a didactic video in which Simón Pérez, Academic Director of the Instituto Superior de Empresa y Finanzas, defines what an investment fund is, briefly explains how it works and presents its main characteristics
