An income fund is a fund whose goal is to provide an income from investments.
An income fund is a type of asset allocation fund.
Income funds are often assumed to be bond funds, but they may be stock funds instead, more accurately called equity income funds. Typically these hold stocks with a good history of paying dividends. In fact, a typical income fund holds both stocks and bonds, to gain some of the strengths of both.
The point in any case is that the investor is more interested in income than capital gains, perhaps with the intention the fund will never be sold.
Income funds are often used as the endpoint for target-date funds. As each target-date fund approaches and passes its target date, it becomes more similar to the fund provider's income fund. At some point past the target date, the target-date fund may be merged into the income fund, which will then be owned by all investors whose target dates are some time in the past.
Baytex Energy Trust TSX: BTE (Canada: oil and natural gas)
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust NYSE: BPT (US: Prudhoe Bay oil field, Alaska)
Canadian Oil Sands Trust TSX: COS (Canada: oil sands)
Cross Timbers Royalty Trust NYSE: CRT (US: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico: oil and gas)
Daylight Resources Trust Ltd. OTCBB: DAYYF (Canada: oil and natural gas)
Dominion Resources Black Warrior Trust NYSE: DOM (US: Alabama, mainly natural gas)
Enerplus Resources Fund TSX: ERF (Canada: oil and natural gas; properties both in Canada and the U.S.)
Harvest Energy Trust TSX: HTE (Canada: 70% oil, 30% natural gas, and also owns a refinery)
Hugoton Royalty Trust NYSE: HGT (US: Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming; natural gas)
LL&E Royalty Trust NYSE: LRT (US: Florida, Alabama, and in the Gulf of Mexico; oil and gas; will liquidate in 2008)
Marine Petroleum Trust NASDAQ: MARPS (US: Gulf of Mexico; oil and gas)
Mesabi Trust NYSE: MSB(US: Minnesota, iron ore)
Mesa Royalty Trust NYSE: MTR (US: oil)
MV Oil Trust NYSE: MVO (US: oil)
North European Oil Royalty Trust NYSE: NRT (Incorporated in the US, but the oil-producing properties are in Germany)
Permian Basin Royalty Trust NYSE: PBT (US: Texas, oil and gas)
Penn West Energy Trust TSX: PWE (Canada: oil and gas)
Pengrowth Energy Trust TSX: PGH (Canada: oil and gas, including oil sands)
Precision Drilling Trust TSX: PDS (Canada: drilling contractor to the oil and gas industry)
Provident Energy Trust TSX: PVX (Canada: oil and gas; properties both in Canada and the US)
Sabine Royalty Trust NYSE: SBR (US: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas; oil and gas)
Santa Fe Energy Trust NYSE: SFF (US: oil and gas in 12 states; trust to be liquidated in 2008)
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust NYSE: SJT (US: New Mexico, mainly natural gas)
TEL Offshore Trust NASDAQ: TELOZ (US: Gulf of Mexico offshore of Louisiana; oil and gas)
Tidelands Royalty Trust B OTCBB: TIRTZ (US: Gulf of Mexico, oil and gas)
Torch Energy Trust NYSE: TRU (US: Louisiana, Alabama, Texas; mainly natural gas)
Williams Coal Seam Gas Royalty Trust NYSE: WTU (US: New Mexico and Colorado, natural gas)
Petrocapita Income Trust (Canada: western Canada, oil and gas)
