Fund managers traditionally have pursued 'long only' strategies, in which they purchased a financial services product, held onto it and hoped it would rise in value. Many institutional investors continue to place the bulk of their money with long only fund managers pursuing this kind of strategy. It is now becoming more common for institutional investors to place their money with alternative investment funds which can profit when markets fall.

Careers in fund management fall into two broad categories: active fund managers and passive fund managers.

Active asset managers often take bigger risks with their investments to gain better rewards as they use their skill to beat the market average.

Passive management, or index tracking, in comparison involves selecting a portfolio of assets whose value will match that of a financial index - such as the UK's FTSE 100, Eurostoxx 50 in the eurozone, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong. 'Generating beta' is the term used for simply creating returns that match the market.

Investment roles - these roles are all about investing the money managed by the asset management firm. People in investment jobs are usually either financial analysts - who scrutinise the best companies and products in which to invest - or portfolio managers, who have the final responsibility for investment decisions on a range of funds across their area of expertise, be it equities, fixed income or alternatives.

Distribution roles - distribution covers roles such as sales, marketing, product development and client servicing. Distribution is all about selling a fund manager's services to clients and most jobs are focused on winning new business or maintaining existing relationships.

Asset managers also employ research analysts who work closely with the portfolio managers, visiting companies to assess their investment potential, and sifting through buy and sell information and company reports.

In areas such as compliance, operations, performance measurement and risk management there are a number of middle-office fund management jobs within investment banking.