Funds and fund saving

An investment fund refers to an investment product consisting of a portfolio of securities. The people who have invested in the fund own the portfolio jointly in proportion to the number of fund units they hold. It’s basically a huge piggy bank that individual investors contribute to. In return for your investment in the fund, you are allocated fund units in proportion to the size of your investment. Investing in funds is easy since they are managed by a professional portfolio manager who looks after your investments on your behalf. This means you don’t have to spend time monitoring the markets. You can get started with as little as 10 euros a month.

When choosing a fund, it is good to remember that expected return and risk go hand in hand. Low-risk funds have lower expected returns than high-risk funds. 

Nordea offers a broad range of funds that apply specific sustainability criteria. However, these can vary depending on the fund and the market in which it invests. All funds managed by Nordea are covered by our work within responsible investment, meaning that they apply fundamental ESG criteria. Read more how sustainability is included in portfolio management.

However, we also offer several funds that have specific sustainability criteria and, to make your choice easier, we have selected funds within our Sustainable Choice.

Different funds have a wide array of investment policies and investment targets. You can also choose between different kinds of fund units, namely growth and distribution units.

The main types of investment funds are equity funds, balanced funds, long-term fixed-income funds and short-term fixed-income funds.

Equity funds invest at least 50% of their capital in company shares. They may focus on companies in a particular country or geographical region, for example Europe or the Far East, or invest globally. Equity funds may also focus on companies in a particular industry, such as IT or pharmaceuticals. Balanced funds invest in both equities and fixed-income securities, while short and long-term fixed-income funds focus on specific parts of the fixed-income market. The investment policy and special characteristics of each fund are detailed in the fund’s key investor information document. 

Funds can also have different types of fund units, often called distribution and growth units. The type of unit you hold determines how any income generated from the fund's underlying investments is treated and how your investments are taxed. With distribution units, income is paid out to unitholders annually, decreasing the value of the units correspondingly. With growth units, income is retained within the fund and reinvested, increasing the value of the units. You can find more information about the units of investment funds below on this page.