Get a fast introduction to index funds and learn how these popular investing vehicles can help balance your portfolio.

Index funds are a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to replicate the performance of a specific market index such as the S&P 500. Unlike actively managed funds, where fund ...

Today’s column addresses three questions. First, to what extent do the portfolios of index funds behave differently from benchmarks that they emulate? That is, before expenses are considered, how ...

Index funds offer a way to invest in many securities, providing instant portfolio diversification. They are less costly due to low expense ratios compared to actively managed funds. When selecting ...

Index and tracker funds are a multi-trillion dollar market, letting investors replicate the performance of a particular market or asset class - but how do they work? It may seem like a new concept but ...

Low-cost index funds are a great way to invest in the market, giving you a diversified fund with low expenses. Index funds ...

Indexes aren’t just important for index funds. By creating a virtual portfolio that represents the “market” (or a specific style of sector), they also establish a “typical” return and risk level that ...