Introduction to Pooled Investing

This lesson introduces pooled investing, the core idea behind mutual funds and ETFs. Instead of buying individual securities one by one, investors buy shares in a fund that holds a diversified basket of assets. That structure can make investing simpler, more diversified, and often more efficient to manage.

You will learn what pooled investments are, why they exist, how they differ from direct stock picking, and the key tradeoffs to understand before moving on to fund types, costs, and portfolio construction in later lessons.