Index funds are one of the most popular types of investments because of their simplicity, low cost and diversification benefits. In general, index funds seek to replicate the performance of an ...

This species of index fund is the most homogeneous; they all own the same issues, he writes. Such funds, almost pure commodities, are distinguished by their costs and also by their tracking errors, ...

Not only can those funds be evaluated en masse, but they also contain more assets than the rest of the field combined. The low-hanging fruit is by far the heaviest. This species of index fund is the ...

While index providers and index fund managers play different roles, they are equally important to the index investing landscape. As index investing likely continues to grow, it will be important for ...

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 ...

When it comes to choosing an index crediting strategy, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, according to Jeff Barnes, EquiTrust regional vice president. Barnes presented a three-step approach to ...

Index-tracking mutual funds and exchange-traded funds have a lot of endearing qualities. Many of them pair low fees with a clear set of rules, which has been a big win for investors. But those ...

Many investors use size and style indices to construct their US equity portfolios, but there are significant differences in the way different index providers define large-/mid-/small-cap stocks and ...

Corporate bond ETFs generally have notionally higher yields than Municipal Bond ETFs. Due to their index benchmark compositions, Muni ETFs will average less volatility than corporate bond ETFs. Are ...