Company that uses its capital to invest in other companies. The two kinds are open-end investment company and closed-end Investment company, the former being by far the most frequent. In France the société d'investissement à capital variable (SICAV) and fonds communs de placement (FCP) are the most common. The OPCVM are the investment companies in France. They were liberalized by a law of December 23, 1988, which came into effect October 1,1989.