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.

Neil Woodford (born 1960) is head of investment for Invesco Perpetual in the UK and has been described as "one of the best known and best performing fund managers in the UK market today".

After graduating in Economics and Agricultural Economics from University of Exeter in 1981, Woodford began his career with the Dominion Insurance Company. In 1987 he became a fund manager with Eagle Star, then moved to Invesco Perpetual in 1988. He has also pursued postgraduate studies in Finance at the London Business School.

Woodford runs the Invesco Perpetual Income, and Invesco Perpetual High Income funds, with respectively £4.17 billion and £6.69 billion in assets. The High Income Fund is Britain's largest investment fund, and accordingly has considerable influence over the sectors he invests in - describing negotiations with government over water pricing, he said: "We had a meeting with a minister only last week. If we can't get an attractive, risk-adjusted return, then they won't get the infrastructure investment they want. We're not a charity."