An income fund is a mutual fund whose goal is to provide an income from investments.

Income funds are often assumed to be synonymous with bond funds, however income funds may hold stocks instead (typically those with a good history of paying dividends), more accurately called equity income funds, or even some combination.

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.

In Canada there are a large number of tax efficient entities - public royalty trust and private income trusts - dedicated to generating income, particularly from the energy sector.