What are active funds?
Active funds
are 'actively' managed by a fund manager, who buys and sells investments on behalf of the fund in order to maximise gains and minimise losses. As the fund is actively managed, the fund managers can strategically react to market situations, taking advantage of insights and opportunities as they happen.
For example, when a particular sector looks like it might be on the up, or one region starts to suffer, the fund manager can move your money either to expose you to this growth or protect you from potential losses.
An actively managed fund offers the potential for higher returns than that of a passive fund, which simply track the particular stock market which the investments sit in.