Under United States securities law, what kind of entity is a mutual fund?

1. A mutual fund pools money from many investors and puts it into stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments or other assets. 2. The legal form that does this while issuing redeemable shares on a continuous basis is the open-end investment company, registered with the SEC. 3. A closed-end fund sells a fixed number of shares once, so it is a different type of investment company. 4. A hedge fund is a private, unregistered pool, and a bank deposit is not an investment company at all. _Source: US SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, "Mutual Funds and ETFs: A Guide for Investors", section How Mutual Funds Work_