They are the funds and the open SICAV, made in the European Unions countries, which primarily invest in listed financial instrument, like stocks and bonds.
Called harmonised because they follow the rules and common criteria provided by Directive n. 85611CEE concerning UCITS and adopted into national law.
These principles are intended to protect depositors, by putting limits on the risks that the operator can undertake and deciding the control measure.
A hedge fund is basically a fancy name for an investment partnership. It's the marriage of a fund manager, which can often be known as the general partner, and the investors in the hedge fund, sometimes known as the limited partners. The limited partners contribute the money and the general partner manages it according to the fund's strategy. A hedge fund's purpose is to maximize investor returns and eliminate risk, hence the word "hedge." If these objectives sound a lot like the objectives of mutual funds, they are, but that is basically where the similarities end.
The name "hedge fund" came into being because the aim of these vehicles was to make money regardless of whether the market climbed higher or declined. This was made possible because the managers could "hedge" themselves by going long or short stocks (shorting is a way to make money when a stock drops).
The Italian legislation, issued in 1999, talks about hedge funds and considers a minimum entry of 500 thousand Euros and a maximum of 200 investors
In addition, it is banned on soliciting to the public saving.
