What's the difference between a hedge fund and a mutual fund?

摘要

The financial industry continually reinvents itself. A significant part of that process involves the creation of investment vehicles aimed at making money for both the people who create them and the people who buy them. Hedge funds are an investment vehicle that has received a fair bit of press over the past few years. What is the difference between a hedge fund and a mutual fund from the perspective of the lay investor? What they share in common is that both are a fund of pooled assets. By working in aggregate, investors are able to realize greater absolute gains. They differ in their philosophical approach to investment, their tolerance for risk, and the manner by which they are regulated by governments through their securities and exchange commissions.