Five funds that do the decision-making for you

Making a decision can be difficult and fraught with consequences: which school to apply to for your children, where to go on holiday, which energy provider to switch to... Sometimes the difficulty is down to simply having too many options; sometimes there is no obvious answer and the pros and cons of each option balance each other out.

Investing poses similar conundrums. There are more than 3,000 funds to choose from for starters, each doing something different, so we take a look at five funds that do the decision-making for you.

1. What's best: large, medium or smaller companies?

Marlborough UK Multi-Cap Growth invests in all three – in differing amounts depending on where the opportunities can be found. It will be concentrated in around 50-70 companies - principally those that are leaders in their sector and that can grow regardless of the prevailing economic landscape.

2. Latin America? Europe? Where in the world should I invest?

Guinness Global Equity Income has the ability to invest anywhere in the world and also to entirely avoid countries and sectors the managers do not like. It typically consists of around 35 equally-weighted stocks, which means that its holdings are very different to those of the index and the 'one-in, one-out' philosophy means the fund stays up-to-date with the managers’ best ideas.

3. Will the stock market go up or will it fall?

BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha can make money by investing in companies the manager thinks will do well, in the hope that the stock price will rise over time. It can also make money when the price of a stock falls, by 'shorting' it. It is called a long/short targeted absolute return fund and aims to achieve a positive absolute return for investors regardless of market conditions.

4. Are equities or bonds the best place to be?

VT Chelsea Managed Balanced Growth is a fund-of-funds that has a target weighting of between 50% and 70% in UK and overseas equities, although it will also invest in other assets including bonds, property, gold and targeted absolute return strategies, depending on where the investment team think they can find the best opportunities.

5. Which is best? Government or corporate bonds?

Jupiter Strategic Bond is a flexible 'go-anywhere' fund which allows the manager considerable freedom to exploit opportunities across every type of bond throughout the world, from UK to emerging market government debt through to corporate bonds and floating rate notes. The manager is cautious in his approach and emphasises limiting the downside in tough markets.

Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time. Darius's views are his own and do not constitute financial advice.