Asiaweek's list of Asia's Top 200 Mutual Funds, prepared by mutual-funds monitoring company Micropal Asia, should help. First, the basics. Mutual funds pool money from individual investors who otherwise would not gain access to the big leagues with their small capital. Professional managers run the fund. The price of a unit may go up or down, depending on the value of the fund's assets.
Investors can sell their units to the managers whenever they want.
Hong Kong does not impose capital-gains taxes, but some jurisdictions do. In Hong Kong, more than 1,000 funds are authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission. Singapore has about 140. With 80 funds, Malaysia is trying to catch up. The biggest fund manager is state-sponsored Permodalan Nasional Berhad, whose primary mission is to sell unit trusts to Malays and other indigenous people to let them share in the country's corporate wealth.