Active Funds
Active (or actively managed) Funds are those that are not Tracker Funds or Index Tracker Funds but generally rely more on stock selection or investment themes to provide returns to clients. The charges on such funds may be higher than for Passive Funds but they are capable of providing superior returns. There is no right or wrong answer to the argument of passive versus active and sensibly a portfolio should contain an element of each.
In an investment and financial planning context, funds are generally ‘collective investments'. That is to say that an individual's money is ‘pooled' with those of many other investors to invest across a wide range of shares or other investment media thus giving a spread of risk that would normally be unobtainable to one individual.
Examples of commonly used funds in the UK would be Unit Trusts; Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICS); Investment Trusts, Life Funds and Pension Funds.