What are Funds
uSMART is committed to offering a broader selection of mutual fund products and fund trading services to investors. Currently, the section features four types of funds: Equity, Bond, Money Market, and Hybrid, covering a total of 25 fund management companies. Fund subscriptions support settlement in both HKD and USD.
Money Market Funds: Money market funds are funds that invest in short-term money market instruments. These instruments include various securities with maturities of no more than one year, such as Treasury bills, short-term government bonds, and commercial paper. Money market funds are characterized by lower risk and higher liquidity. Typically, subscribing to other funds takes T+N days to process, whereas money market fund subscriptions are usually completed in T+0 or T+1 days. The classification of money market funds available in Hong Kong differs slightly from that in Mainland China. For example, US money market funds can be divided into taxable and tax-exempt types, which invest in short-term Treasuries/commercial paper and local government tax-exempt short-term securities, respectively.
Bond Funds: Bond funds refer to funds that invest specifically in bonds. By pooling capital from numerous investors into portfolio investments in bonds, they seek to generate relatively steady returns. A wide variety of bond funds are available in Hong Kong, including globally allocated high-yield bonds and inflation-protected bonds—areas rarely covered by Mainland domestic bond funds—offering investors more choices.
Equity Funds: Equity funds refer to funds that invest in the stock market. Equity funds carry both higher potential returns and higher risks. Unlike most Mainland stock funds that focus solely on A-shares, equity funds available in Hong Kong cover most countries and regions worldwide. These include funds with global investment scopes as well as those targeting specific regions or single countries.
Allocation Funds: Allocation funds refer to a class of funds that can simultaneously invest across multiple asset classes, such as equities, bonds, and money market instruments. Generally, their risk level is lower than that of equity funds, while their expected returns are higher than those of bond funds. They offer investors the opportunity to diversify investments across different asset classes.
