What is a mutual fund

Mutual funds are an investment scheme. They pool together yours and other people money to buy stocks, bonds or other securities. You invest in them through a fund company. They offer the advantage of advantages are

• diversification,
• professional management,
• liquidity,
• and convenience.

The main criticism is against managed mutual funds. These investment companies attempt to beat the market through the experience of their managers, but

• picking stocks in the long run never works,
• the costs of management negate the investors returns.

Keep in mind that managed mutual funds are only a part of way bigger category of investments, that includes also Index funds and ETFs.