Funds can be divided into contract type and company type. Company funds raise funds by issuing shares, and investors who buy shares are shareholders of the company, who enjoy investment income by virtue of their shares. Contractual funds are generally established by fund management companies (trustees), fund trustees (trustees) and investors (beneficiaries) through trust investment contracts. There is such a relationship among the three parties of contractual funds: the trustor uses the trust property to invest according to the contract, the trustee is responsible for keeping the trust property according to the contract, and the investor enjoys the investment income according to the contract. Simply put, corporate fund investors are shareholders and contractual fund investors are customers. China's funds are contractual, while most American fund companies are corporate.
Corporate funds are similar to ordinary joint-stock companies in form, but different from ordinary joint-stock companies, they entrust fund management companies as professional financial consultants or management companies to operate and manage fund assets.