Fund management is obviously about managing funds and this can be, and often is, a combination of cash and vehicles for investment. Personal funds such as cash in hand and cash held in bank accounts can be committed, i.e. they are needed against known or expected expenditure and non-committed or excess cash that is not anticipated to be needed in the short to medium term to meet current or projected expenditure. The use which this excess cash can be put to is varied and could range from 'frivolous or fun spending' to investment designed to grow capital and possibly provide income. Almost certainly we would expect the investment to match or better the rate of inflation so that the value of the cash does not diminish.

How to manage that cash is the question, as most people are neither experienced in terms of markets and products nor, more importantly, do they have time to manage the investment. Equally important is the fact that most of us have relatively modest amounts to invest which makes an above-average return on the investment harder to achieve. As a result the fund management element of the financial services industry is growing rapidly as the growth in the economy and resulting wealth creation generates more funds that require management.

Funds allow the investments of individuals to be amalgamated or pooled so that the investment scope is greater. This is the aim of investment vehicles such as unit trusts and open-ended investment companies as well as...