Investment

Investing is a process where retail investors (individuals), institutional investors (pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, hedge funds etc), private wealth (high net worth individuals, family offices), governments (sovereign wealth funds) and companies put capital at risk in order to realise future monetary gains. Returns can be generated if the price of an investment rises and the investor sells at the higher price (a capital gain) or because the investment pays contractual interest (bonds) or optional dividends (shares). Standard investment classes are shares, bonds, funds, commodities, currencies, and real estate.