As of January 2025, the Vanguard Group ranked second among global fund managers by assets under management (AUM). Rounding out the top three, Charles Schwab ranked third, managing fund assets totaling 7.32 trillion U.S. dollars. BlackRock was the largest fund manager, managing fund assets exceeding 11.48 trillion U.S. Types of investment funds. Investment funds are an important part of financial planning and investing. There are several different types of investment funds offered by fund managers, each with their own purpose and asset types. Mutual funds pool money from many investors and use that money to purchase a portfolio of stocks, bonds, and other securities. Index funds are a type of mutual fund that tracks a market index, like the S&P 500. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a type of mutual fund, that is continuously traded on a stock exchange. ETFs often track market indexes or sectors. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) provide both retail and institutional investors with exposure to income-generating real estate assets such as office buildings, apartments and hotels, without having to fully invest in an individual property. The benefits of investment funds. The main advantage of investment funds is that they provide instant portfolio diversification. Rather than choosing just a few stocks or bonds, funds allow you to invest in a wide variety of different securities in one purchase. This helps reduce risk, as poor performance of one holding has less impact on the overall fund. Funds also provide access to professional management and research. Managers can take advantage of opportunities and insights that an individual investor may not have the ability to leverage. Finally, funds offer convenience. Investors won't be required to constantly rebalance portfolios. While costs and fees are a consideration, investment funds can be an excellent hands-off way for both retail and institutional investors to benefit from the market while spreading risk over many asset classes and securities.

BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited was the largest retail and private client fund manager based in the United Kingdom, as of July 2024, by funds under management. BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited managed assets worth nearly 95 billion British pounds that year. The second-largest retail and private client fund manager was Legal & General Investment Management Limited, with funds under management of around 60 billion British pounds.

As of June 17, 2024, the most shorted stock was for, the American holographic technology services provider, MicroCloud Hologram Inc., with 66.64 percent of their total float having been shorted. This is a change from mid-January 2021, when video game retailed GameStop had an incredible 121.07 percent of their available shares in a short position. In effect this means that investors had 'borrowed' more shares (with a future promise to return them) than the total number of shares available for public trading. Owing to this behavior of professional investors, retail investors enacted a campaign to drive up the stock price of Gamestop, leading to losses of billions when investors had to repurchase the stock they had borrowed. At this time, a similar – but less effective – social media campaign was also carried out for the stock price of cinema operator AMC, and the price of silver. What is short selling? Short selling is essentially where an investor bets on a share price falling by: borrowing a number of shares selling these shares while the price is still high; purchasing the same number again once the price falls; then returning the borrowed shares at a profit. Of course, a profit will only be made if the share price does fall; should the share price rise the investor will then need to purchase the shares back at a higher price, and thus incur a loss. Short selling can lead to some very large profits in a short amount of time, with Tesla stock generating over one billion dollars in short sell profits during the first week of March 2020 alone, owing to the financial crash caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, owing to the short-term, opportunistic nature of short selling, these returns look less impressive when considered as net profits from short sell positions over the full year. The risks of short selling Short selling carries greater risks than traditional investments, and for this reason financial advisors often recommend against this strategy for ‘retail’ (i.e. non-professional) investors. The reason for this is that losses from short selling are potentially uncapped, whereas losses from traditional investments are limited to the initial cost. For example, if someone purchases 100 dollars of shares, the maximum they can lose is the 100 dollars the spent on those shares. However, say someone borrows 100 dollars of shares instead, betting on the price falling. If these shares are then sold for 100 dollars but the price subsequently rises, the losses could greatly exceed the initial investment should the price rise to, say, 500 dollars. The risks of short selling can be seen by looking again at Tesla, with the company causing the greatest losses over 2020 from short selling at over 40 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2024, 62 percent of adults in the United States invested in the stock market. This figure has remained steady over the last few years, and is still below the levels before the Great Recession, when it peaked in 2007 at 65 percent. What is the stock market? The stock market can be defined as a group of stock exchanges, where investors can buy shares in a publicly traded company. In more recent years, it is estimated an increasing number of Americans are using neobrokers, making stock trading more accessible to investors. Other investments A significant number of people think stocks and bonds are the safest investments, while others point to real estate, gold, bonds, or a savings account. Since witnessing the significant one-day losses in the stock market during the Financial Crisis, many investors were turning towards these alternatives in hopes for more stability, particularly for investments with longer maturities. This could explain the decrease in this statistic since 2007. Nevertheless, some speculators enjoy chasing the short-run fluctuations, and others see value in choosing particular stocks.

The net value of retail sales of money market funds in the United Kingdom (UK) fluctuated considerably between January 2020 and October 2023. The net value of retail sales of money market funds reached 938 million British pounds as of October 2023. What are money market funds? Money market funds are a category of mutual funds that invest in liquid and short-term assets. The composition of money market assets is designed to provide investors with a predictable and relatively secure return on their investment while simultaneously preserving liquidity. In addition, the increasing inflow of money market funds signifies heightened investor demand for safety and liquidity, often triggered by rising risk aversion in the face of economic uncertainty or market volatility. In March 2020, the fund flow of money market funds in the United States jumped by over 18 percent, surging from 4,030 to 4,758 billion U.S. dollars. This significant rise in money market fund flows could be attributed to the elevated economic uncertainty and market turmoil resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. What do money market fund values indicate? The trajectory of the value of money market funds in a country reveals the sentiments of investors, the economic performance, and the evolution of the market. The ascending trend in these funds often indicates a flight to safety by those looking for security and liquidity, especially during times of increased market volatility or economic uncertainty. The value of money market funds in the United Kingdom remained quite stable, with a few exceptions. This indicates a general sense of security, low volatility, and a cautious approach to investing in the marketplace.