The market today is not the market of days' past. In fact, the market has been on a downward spiral and during its fall it managed to take out years worth of solid investments and stomp on investors' faith. The rapid market changes that have recently occurred paired with the billions of dollars that literally vanished from investors' coffers has created a fear of the stock market in addition to a level of conservativeness that has not been around for many years. Luckily, the long short mutual fund exists and it allows investors to diversify their portfolio. The long short mutual fund does not depend on a particular market climate to make money. Instead, the long short mutual fund is poised to be successful no matter what the market is doing. That's what makes this type of investment so attractive to investors because even if the market is down this investment should still provide returns and make up for any losses.

Of course, any investor that can forecast the market and which way it will swing overnight might not care about the long short mutual fund. Unfortunately, there are few if any investment managers out there who are confident in calling the market these days and a long short mutual fund is an option for their clients to invest their money and not worry about losing every penny in one overnight freefall of the market.

The versatility of the long short mutual fund is its saving grace. It can switch from long to short and short to long at the market's whim, meaning its investors always have a "backup" so to speak. Of course, investors in the long short mutual fund will need to have some investing experience and know when it's time to shift funds to the short or long sides of their portfolio.