In an investment account, the bank concentrates the money from their customers by offering an interest rate as attractive as possible to successfully compete with other banks. With that money makes assets and provides loans (mortgages, credit cards) to their clients why they are charged interest and fees which makes his profit and pays the agreed return to savers.
In a mutual fund, the financial institution acquires notes and bonds of companies and governments (Debt Funds) and shares of companies (Equity Fund) among other savings. The total amount of the investment is divided into equal parts called shares being these that are available to investor’s customers. In this case, the performance of the assets making up the fund is what determines the fund, taking by financial institutions both experts analyzing the best options for integrating the fund thus seeking to give their customers investors better returns than the competition.
Suppose that in January 2011 had wanted to save $ 10,000 a year (e.g. for your wedding or your daughter 15 years):
In case you have decided to save in a bank, you could have opened a savings account monthly fixed term with a yield of 4.3% annually, which you deposit your total money.
Compared You could have chosen to participate in the asset fund Valmex15 - which last year (2010) had a yield of 9.46% - with what you had purchased shares, which at that time were priced at $ 1.62 a unit, so in the example you had purchased 6,172 shares of the fund (10,000 / 1.62) by staying in cash $ 1.36