A fund manager is a financial expert in charge of a group of investment funds. A person in this position must manage the funds under their supervision in accordance with their stated objectives while attempting to maximize returns for investors. People in these senior positions typically have extensive financial industry experience, including experience at various levels of the fund management hierarchy.
Funds can be structured in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. The fund manager is in charge of the fund’s day-to-day as well as long-term operations. He or she makes decisions about how the fund should invest the money it has, how to balance the portfolio, and how to handle other aspects of the fund’s operations. Marketing the fund to potential investors, implementing procedures and policies in the office, and establishing ethical standards for the company are all examples of this.
A fund manager with an advanced degree, such as an MBA, and experience in the industry is not uncommon. In addition to hedge funds and mutual funds, he or she may have worked for banks and other financial institutions. As a fledgling fund manager learns about accounting, balancing portfolios, responding to market shifts, and financial ethics, this extensive experience often includes activities in various aspects of fund management.
Typically, fund managers have a large team of people working for them. This can include entire departments dedicated to issues like stock value monitoring and ethical standards upholding, as well as personal assistants who assist the manager with administrative tasks. Office hours can be long, as a fund manager may need to arrive early or stay late to speak with people in other time zones or respond to emerging market trends; a fund manager who sleeps through a market crash will lose his or her job.
A good fund will have a consistent management team with many long-term employees. The fund manager is typically compensated in the form of a performance-based fee, which provides an incentive for the manager to properly manage the fund because his or her compensation is linked to returns. Funds with a high staff turnover rate may be experiencing issues that investors would be wise to avoid, and it is prudent to research a fund’s history before investing.