There are always exceptions to this, of course, based on the individual investor and investments in question. Actively managed funds tend to excel in areas where specialized investment research can really pay off, like smaller companies and stocks from less-traveled countries. But putting your money into larger growth names helps defray some of the potential downsides.<\/p>\n

Find out which index funds tracking the S&P 500 have the lowest fees and most closely track the market.<\/h2>\n

The scheme seeks to provide returns before expenses that closely correspond to the total returns of the Nifty 50 Index Fund subject to tracking errors. As a result, in most cases, the return is close to or slightly lower than the Index Return due to the fund’s charges. Hence, most of the Top Index funds in India will have returns nearly identical to the benchmark index they are tracking.<\/p>\n

Instead of choosing individual stocks or even a particular benchmark index, one way to reduce your risk is to simply invest in the entire stock market. You can do this by investing in an index fund that tracks a \u201ctotal market\u201d index, such as the iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF. To be sure, the overall market can be quite volatile in the short term but has historically produced excellent long-term returns. The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF tracks an index of stocks that have above-average dividend yields. The fund has a 0.06% expense ratio and invests in 443 different stocks, with top holdings including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ -0.72%), ExxonMobil (XOM -1.58%), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM -1.74%).<\/p>\n