Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) are:

• A. not collective investment funds.
• B. UCITS funds.
• C. Non-UCITS funds.
• D. life assurance unit-linked funds.

Answer: (C)

AIFs are defined by what they are not under EU regulation: they are the funds that do not meet UCITS rules. UCITS funds represent the standard, highly regulated retail investment vehicle with a harmonized regime across the EU. In contrast, Alternative Investment Funds fall under the AIFMD framework and consist of vehicles that raise capital from investors and invest in a broader range of assets, but do not qualify as UCITS. This is why non-UCITS funds is the best description for AIFs. The other options don’t fit because they either imply a different category (not a collective investment fund, or UCITS) or describe a wrapper that can apply to various fund types but doesn’t define AIFs themselves.