An index fund is a passively managed mutual fund. They don’t try to find undervalued securities or actively trade in and out of stocks (or bonds, for bond index funds). They buy a portfolio of securities that replicates an index, such as the S&P500 Index. Then, they hold that portfolio, trading only when necessary (e.g., because a company was acquired…
We wrote that perhaps the primary advantage of investing in index funds and index ETFs is their low expenses. But there are some index funds that charge outrageously (in our opinion) high expense ratios. We don’t understand why any investor would ever invest in them. If it is because their financial advisor put them there, they need a different financial…