A fund is cash saved or collected for a specific purpose, often managed professionally with the aim of increasing the value of the fund over time. The most common example of an investment is a mutual fund, which pools shareholders’ money to invest in a portfolio of assets such as stocks and bonds.

In general, a fund is money set aside by individuals, companies, institutions and governments for future use. Some examples of a pooled fund include:

Emergency funds, a “rainy day fund” that people turn to during adverse financial situations.

College funds, which are used to save for higher education, often through what is called a 529 plan.

Target date funds, which are a reserve of cash saved and invested for a beneficiary who will have access to some or all of the funds after a specified period of time.

Foundations and charitable foundations that raise cash from donors to help a designated charity or non-profit organization.

How do funds work?
Investment funds take contributions from fund investors and purchase a portfolio that may include stocks, bonds, short-term debt or a combination of assets. Investors do not actually own the underlying assets, but buy shares in the fund (this is why fund investors are called shareholders). As the overall value of the stocks or bonds in the fund rises and falls, so does the value of the fund’s shares.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, investors often choose mutual funds because they offer:

Professional management. The average investor does not have the expertise to put together and manage an investment portfolio. Instead, fund managers do this hard work for shareholders.

Accessibility. Most mutual funds require small minimum investments.

Liquidity. Fund investors can usually sell their shares at any time.

Instant diversification. Any investment in the shares of one company is inherently risky. Funds reduce this risk because they often invest in a variety of companies, often in different industries. This diversification reduces the risk of losing your principal investment.

Types of funds
Here are some common types of investment funds:

Mutual funds, as mentioned above, take cash from a large group of investors and invest in stocks, bonds and other securities. Shares in mutual funds are bought and sold at the end of each trading day.

Money market funds are fixed income mutual funds that invest in short-term, low-risk debt obligations that can be easily converted into cash. Money market funds usually offer low yields, but current yields are higher (around 2%) due to this year’s interest rate hike.

Index funds are a type of mutual fund whose investments track a specific market index, such as the S&P 500. Index funds are a passive way to invest in the stock market.

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are funds similar to mutual funds and index funds, except that they can be traded like stocks during the day on a stock exchange.

Real estate investment trusts, also known as REITs, are companies that invest in real estate, income-producing properties such as apartment buildings, hotels or shopping malls. They are often compared to mutual funds because they typically invest in real estate.

Hedge funds pool money from pre-qualified investors, usually wealthy individuals and organizations. Hedge funds typically use riskier trading strategies and charge high performance-based fees.

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A trade union is an organization consisting of members (membership organization) and its membership must consist mainly of employees.

One of the main purposes of a trade union is to protect and promote the interests of its members at work.

Most trade unions are independent from any employer. However, trade unions try to develop close working relationships with employers. Sometimes this can take the form of a partnership agreement between the employer and the union that defines their common interests and goals.

Trade unions:

• negotiate with employers on working conditions and pay
• discuss major changes in the workplace, such as large-scale redundancies
• discuss members’ problems with employers
• accompany members during disciplinary and grievance meetings
• provide members with legal and financial advice
• provide educational opportunities and certain consumer benefits such as discounted insurance

Recognition of trade unions
Employers who recognize a union will negotiate with it on pay and conditions for members.

Many recognition agreements are reached voluntarily, sometimes with the help of the Labour Relations Agency.

If no agreement can be reached and the organisation employs more than 20 people, the union can apply for statutory recognition. To do this, it must first submit a written request for recognition to the employer. If this fails, the trade union may apply to the Industrial Court (external link opens in a new window/tab) for a decision.

When considering the union’s application, the Court must assess many factors, including the level of membership in the union and the presence of any other unions. Often the Court will organise a vote among the affected workers to decide whether recognition should be awarded. Throughout the process, the emphasis is on reaching a voluntary agreement.

Collective bargaining
If a trade union is officially recognised by an employer, it can negotiate terms and conditions with the employer. This is known as “collective bargaining”.

For collective bargaining to work, unions and employers must agree on how they should work. They can, for example, make agreements about how union dues are deducted from members’ wages; who is to represent workers in negotiations and how often meetings will take place.

Both these agreements on procedures and agreements between employers and unions that change the terms and conditions that apply to employees (such as wage increases) are called “collective bargaining agreements”.

Your employment contract will probably specify which collective agreements apply to you.

It is possible that a trade union can negotiate on your behalf even if you are not a member.

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You are an adult, walking through a shopping mall when you see a bunch of teenagers bustling around. You are amazed by their energy or perhaps appalled by some of their antics. You wish (for the hundredth time – you have children of your own) that you could channel that energy into something productive.

Or maybe you are a teenager and a girl at school has just committed suicide. She wasn’t your good friend, but you still feel really bad. You wonder what you could have done, if there were signs you just missed. You even search the internet for information about teen suicide, but you need more than facts. You want to find a way to make sure it doesn’t happen again at your school. You know that some of your friends feel the same way, but what can you do?

As both a concerned young person and a concerned adult, one of the options available to you is to start a youth organization. Organizations run by youth or for youth have a lot to offer your community. Think about all the organizations you already know about – you have probably been involved in some of them yourself at one time or another. There are groups centered around almost any topic you can think of, with a huge variety of goals. Here are a number of examples:

• Boy Scouts
• Soccer leagues
• SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving)
• A student chapter of Amnesty International
• A class that volunteers in the community

Youth organizations can be founded by young people themselves or by interested adults. In this section we will try to look at the stages of youth organisation development from the perspective of both groups. We will start by looking at what a youth group can be and the general benefits of starting one. Next, we will briefly discuss who should start a group and the unique advantages of having an adult organize the group or having young people do it themselves. Next we will look at the right time to start such a group and then look at how to go about it. Finally, we will conclude the section for adult mentors with special tips for working with young people.

WHAT FORM CAN A YOUTH ORGANISATION TAKE?
A youth organization can be almost as broad – or as narrow – in scope as an organization for adults or for the community at large. Youth organisations can be run in schools, churches, neighbourhoods or local recreation centres. They can operate locally, nationally or even internationally. They can be organized and run by young people themselves, or they can be developed by adults such as coaches, priests or staff from the local YWCA. A local youth organisation may also be the nucleus of a larger group; for example, a local substance use reduction coalition may have a youth advisory board that provides suggestions on what they think will help stop young people from drinking alcohol.

In this section we will focus primarily on youth organisations that are set up specifically to make a difference in the community, such as public health organisations such as Students Against Drunk Driving, or groups set up to increase civic participation. However, many of the ideas we discuss here can easily be applied to any type of student group, such as youth theatre or sports teams.

One example of a successful youth organization is CityKids. CityKids is an organization with branches in the United States. Their mission is to engage and develop diverse youth to positively impact the world.

Their goals are:

Having a safe space for youth
Promoting open communication between youth
Multicultural bridge building
Strengthening leadership development among youth
The group does many different things to try to achieve these goals.
For example, they hold weekly “Coalition” meetings where they bring together different groups of young people to explore cultural, racial and sexual issues. The group is involved in many aspects of youth life and offers leadership development and guidance opportunities for education and careers.

An offshoot of CityKids is the CityKids Repertory Company, in which young people turn feelings and experiences about youth issues into music, dance and drama. They perform skits in their neighbourhoods, schools, community centres and prisons. They have performed on stage and some of their work has been filmed and shown on television. For example, the group developed Kayla’s Story, a video that documents a fictional teen pregnancy. The video is distributed throughout the country.

CityKids is a successful example of how young people choose the issues that matter to them, find a safe place, and help each other strengthen their community. The organization helps them gain leadership skills and a cohesive peer group, and sends a positive message to youth throughout the community.

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