how to invest in open end funds
there are a variety of ways to invest in open end funds and the best way to do so is through a broker a broker will sell shares of a specific fund to investors if you are purchasing an exchange traded fund for example you can sign on to your broker s online portal choose the etf you wish to purchase and buy it like you would a stock if an investor is interested in gaining exposure to the s p 500 for example they can purchase state street s spdr s p 500 trust spy or the ishares core s p 500 etf ivv most of the large investment management companies such as vanguard offer over 100 mutual funds with specific investment goals that investors can choose from open end vs closed end fundsthe primary difference between an open end fund and a closed end fund is that open end funds are open to new investors and new investment capital whereas closed end funds are closed to new investors and new capital managers of closed end funds believe the fund has reached a size that is optimal and any size larger would impede the strategy of the firm or have negative consequences to the overall market if the fund was making large buy or sell orders closed end funds offer a fixed number of shares like publicly traded companies and release these shares into the market via an initial public offering ipo shares are listed on an exchange and are available to purchase on the secondary market via brokers shares are bought and sold throughout the day and are purchased or sold at the price they are trading at during the day as opposed to the end of day nav open end funds on the other hand are valued at their nav unless they are etfs and can constantly release new shares if investor appetite exists both types of funds however are professionally managed invest in a variety of equities or asset classes and pool the investment capital of the investors in order to invest on a larger scale 