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Beginner3 min readThe Economy and Saving in Egypt · 7/13

Mutual Funds in Egypt: How Do They Work?

A mutual fund pools many people's money into one pot that a professional manager invests. You do not buy shares yourself; you buy "units" in the fund, and each unit's value is worked out from what the fund holds.

What you will learn

  • Understand what a unit is and what net asset value per unit means.
  • Work out your gain or loss from a change in the unit price.
  • Know what to check before choosing a fund.
In this lesson
  1. How a fund works
  2. How the unit price is calculated
  3. Types of funds
  4. Check yourself
  5. Summary
  6. Related terms

How a fund works

This lesson focuses on open-end funds, where investors buy and redeem units through a mechanism tied to net asset value under the fund's prospectus. There are also closed-end funds, with a different structure and terms. According to the Financial Regulatory Authority, Egypt had about 172 operating funds at the end of 2025, 162 open-end and 10 closed-end. In an open-end fund, everyone who puts money in receives units worth what they paid. The investment manager decides what to buy and sell according to the fund's policy set out in its prospectus. In Egypt, the Financial Regulatory Authority supervises investment fund activity.

The unit price is called the net asset value (NAV) per unit. Take the market value of everything the fund holds, subtract liabilities and fees due, and divide by the number of units.

Value of everything the fund holds50,000,000
−
Liabilities and fees due1,000,000
÷
Number of units490,000
=
Price per unit (EGP)100
An invented fund: (50 million − 1 million) ÷ 490,000 units = EGP 100 per unit.
An invented exampleYou put in EGP 10,000 at 100 a unit, receiving 100 units. A year later the fund's holdings have risen and the unit is worth 108: your units are worth 10,800, up 8%. If it falls to 95, they are worth 9,500. Running fees come out of the fund itself, so the unit price you see is usually after them, but read the prospectus for any separate subscription or redemption fees.

Types of funds

Funds differ by what they invest in: equity funds, debt funds holding bonds and bills, money market funds focused on very short instruments, and balanced funds mixing several. The type decides what moves the unit price: an equity fund moves with the stock market, a debt fund responds more to interest rates.

Watch outA fund's past performance does not guarantee the future. Before choosing, read its prospectus: what it invests in, what it charges, and when and how you can get your money back.

Browse the funds

The funds page shows each fund's unit value and performance over different periods.

Mutual funds

Check yourself

1. A fund holds 20 million in assets, owes 1 million and has 190,000 units. What is the unit price?

(20 million − 1 million) ÷ 190,000 = 100.

2. A debt fund. What affects its unit price most?

A debt fund holds bonds and bills, whose prices respond to interest rates.

Summary

  • A fund pools many people's money for a manager to invest; you own units in it.
  • Unit price = (assets − liabilities) ÷ number of units.
  • Read the prospectus: what it invests in, the fees and how redemption works.

Related terms

NAVLiquidity

Related lessons

The Economy and Saving in EgyptHow to Read a Mutual Fund's Performance
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Educational content only, not investment advice. Companies and figures in the examples are invented for illustration.