Skip to main content

How to choose index funds

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

THERE are several conditions under which investors can look to invest in index funds. These are funds that track a particular index, so the performance of these funds is similar to the performance of the index.

Index investing represents an alternate way of going about the investment process. When it comes to the question of conditions when it makes sense to select such funds over the actively managed fund there are a few situations when it would be appropriate.

Passive funds: Index funds are passively managed funds and due to their very basic nature they will not be expected to outperform the market or even its benchmark index. The aim behind these funds is that they will track the returns of the index and hence they will perform similar to what an index delivers. This is achieved by having the portfolio of the fund constructed in the exact manner in which the index is present. This will also require that there is some rebalancing that is done after a period of time so that the composition remains in the same proportion. While there are advantages and disadvantages of the instrument there can be specific conditions when such funds seem to be a better choice.

Markets and investor belief: If one of the central beliefs that you have as an investor is that it is very difficult for a fund manager to beat the market over the long term then you need to look towards having index funds as a part of your holdings. Since the belief states that the market cannot be beaten, the next

best thing that the investor can do is to ensure that the performance of their investment is at least in tune with the markets so the index funds come into the picture. When this is the case then there would be a position where the main objective of ensuring that you earn at least as much as the market is achieved and this is done using the index fund route.

Broad based indices: There is a slightly easier way of outperforming some of the well known indices by choosing shares or companies that are outside of the index or of a different market capitalisation and this might continue for some point of time.

However when it comes to the question of a larger proportion of the market then consistently beating the broad based indices over a period of time is not an easy task at all. In such a position it is better if the investor takes a look at the index funds for such indices as this will provide them with the specific type of exposure and also keep their returns in tune with the changes taking place.

What is also essential in such a situation that the tracking error is considered very carefully because if this is large then the entire decision of selecting an index fund will no longer be relevant.
 

Low cost: One of the aims of the investor is to have a lower expense ratio while investing in funds as this is ultimately being paid by them from their investments. When this is the aim and there are a lot of actively managed funds where this ratio is high then there should be a look at the index funds route because the cost here is far lower than what will be seen elsewhere. This savings ultimately results in a position where the outflow on the expense front for the individual is less and this will lead to a position where they will be able to earn higher net returns at the end of the day. For all those looking to keep their investment costs low this is a good way to go about the process.  

 

 

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

 

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

 

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds:
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    3. Mid and SmallCap Funds
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    4. Small and MicroCap Funds
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    5. Sector Funds
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    6. Gold Mutual Funds
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

 

Popular posts from this blog

Retirement planning from a long-term perspective

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Buy Gold Mutual Funds     `HOW green was my valley'. This title comes from a movie I had watched many years ago. A little boy's journey into adulthood and the story of a Welsh valley's turn of-the-century descent from pristine paradise to despoiled coal mining.   I thought of the title because it is comparatively reflective of a person's life ­ the glorious years when he is earning and the sun down years when he is not having his regular job and, hence, his living standards comes down. The reason is a combination of things. Inflation of food items, transport, increase in health related costs in the later years of life and increase in expenses in almost all basic amenities of life. In India, the social security system is almost non-existent. In some states, wherever it is available, the scales of benefits are extremely modest...

LIC's JEEVAN SHIKHAR

  LIC's Jeevan Shikhar is a participating, non-linked, saving cum protection single premium plan wherein the risk cover is ten times of Tabular Single Premium. The proposer will have an option to choose the Maturity Sum Assured. The premium payable shall depend on the chosen amount of Maturity Sum Assured and age at entry of the life assured. This plan also takes care of liquidity need through its loan facility. The plan will be open for sale for a maximum period of 120 days from the date of launch. 1.   BENEFITS   : a) Death Benefit: On death during first five policy years: Before the date of commencement of risk   :   Refund of Single Premium without interest. Single Premium mentioned above shall not include any extra amount if charged under the policy due to underwriting decision and taxes. After the date of commencement of risk   : "Sum Assured on Death" equal to 10 times the tabular single premium shall be payable. On death after completion of five policy years but b...

CNX Midcap vs BNP Paribas Midcap Fund

BNP Paribas Midcap Fund - Invest Online   Te  performance of BNP Paribas Midcap Fund  – which has across the last 3 years generated superior returns over the benchmark – especially when the markets have gone down the fund has handsomely outperformed the benchmark preserving the capital of the investors. The fund has been able to do this only due to the superior stock selection process ( BMV approach) that is diligently followed at BNPP.   Highlights of BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund:   Investment Objective : BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund gives an investor exposure to invest in the various quality midcap stocks. The fund also has some exposure to large as well as small cap stocks.   Investment Approach : BMV ( Quality and scalability of Business →Good Management → Reasonable Valuation ) with Bottom-up stock picking.   Most of the investors are way happier if the fund that they have invested in is a significant Outperformer in tough times than in Good ti...

Investment Strategy - What is Sector Rotation Theory?

Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)   The economy goes through cycles : it expands for a few years and then contracts. Study of historical data suggests that different sectors tend to perform well on the stock markets during different stages of the economic cycle. While history never repeats itself exactly, some broad patterns tend to recur. Investors can take advantage of the sector rotation theory to move their money from those sectors that have seen their best times to those that are likely to do well in future.   The person who developed the sector rotation theory is Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor's. He developed this theory by studying data on economic cycles going as far back as 1854 provided by the National Bureau of Economic Research ( NBER ) of the US.   When trying to correlate stock-market perfor...

Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) set for launch this week

The finance ministry is set to notify the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme ( RGESS ) this week.   Though Finance Minister PChidambaram had approved on September 21, the scheme announced in this year's Budget, and had said that the revenue department will notify the scheme and the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi ) would issue relevant circulars within two weeks, it is yet to become operational.   A senior finance ministry official said the revenue department was expected to notify the scheme any day now to attract retail investors to the equity segment.   He added that Sebi was not required to issue any circular for the operationalisation of the scheme and that after the issuance of the revenue department's notification, investors would be able to avail of the benefits of the scheme.   The official accepted that implementation of the scheme had been delayed due to the deliberations on inclusion of mutual funds ( MF ) in it.   ...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now