A type of fund that invests in short-term investments of high quality and low risk. The goal of this type of fund is to protect capital with low-risk investments while achieving a return that beats a relevant benchmark such as a Treasury bill index. Short-term investment funds include cash, bank notes, corporate notes, government bills and various safe short-term debt instruments. These types of funds are usually used by investors who are temporarily parking funds before moving them to another investment that will provide higher returns. These funds traditionally have low management fees, usually well below 1% per year.