What are the two basic types of Mutual Funds?

• Open-end Mutual Fund

• Closed-end Mutual Fund

• A closed-end (or publicly traded) mutual fund is created when an investment company assembles an investment portfolio and then issues a specific number of shares.  The fund's shares are then bought and sold on the stock exchanges and/or the over-the-counter market.  After the initial public offering of the shares, the fund does not issue new shares or redeem old shares.  Investors in closed-end funds purchase shares through a broker and pay a commission for each trade.
• The closed-end fund's net asset value (NAV) changes daily depending on the market value of the shares that make up the fund.  However, the funds NAV is not used for finding the market value of the fund's shares.  The closed-end fund's market value  is determined by the demand for the fund's shares themselves, not directly by the supply and demand for the stocks that make up the fund.