Mutual funds have been around for decades and despite other types of investments finding their way into investor portfolios, these securities are still king in Canada. Despite their still sky-high fees, mutual funds offer investors an easy way to buy into a diversified basket of stocks and bonds, which is really all you need for growing your wealth.

When, in November 2004, State Street Global Advisors introduced the first gold ETF, it was a truly revolutionary moment. You buy a share just as you would buy a share of any other security, and each share gives you an ownership interest in one-tenth of an ounce of gold held by the fund. Yes, the gold is actually held in various bank vaults.

If you want to invest your money in companies that are smaller than small, you can invest in ETFs based on micro caps. These companies are larger than the corner delicatessen, but sometimes not by much. In general, micro caps are publicly held companies with less than $300 million in outstanding stock.Micro caps, as you can imagine, are volatile little suckers, but as a group they offer impressive long-term performance.

Hedge funds use pooled funds to focus on high-risk, high-return investments, often with a focus on shorting — so you can earn profit even when stocks fall.The power of diversificationThe easiest and most powerful way to hedge a portfolio is through diversification. Hedge funds often seek out exotic assets to increase their variety of holdings.

Buying and selling an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is just like buying and selling a stock; there really is no difference. Although you can trade in all sorts of ways, the vast majority of trades fall into these categories: Market order: This is as simple as it gets. You place an order with your broker or online to buy, say, 100 shares of a certain ETF.

When I invest my own money, I've long used the best mutual funds. To make the most of your money when investing in funds, you should be sure that you have your overall finances in order. You should also understand what works and doesn’t work and what will maximize your chances for success and minimize your chances of problems in funds.

In the investment world, "I run a hedge fund" has the same meaning as "I'm a consultant" in the rest of the business world. In general, a hedge fund is a private partnership that operates with little to no regulation from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). © portishead1 / iStockphoto.com A hedge fund uses a range of investment techniques and invests in a wide array of assets to generate a higher return for a given level of risk than what's expected of normal investments.