Index Funds Quarterly Review Q4 2023 (2024)

FAQs

Which index fund gives the highest return? ›

ICICI Prudential Nifty 50 Index Fund-Growth is among India's top 10 index funds. It falls within the Large Cap Index category. Over the past year, ICICI Prudential Nifty 50 Index Fund-Growth has returned 15.09 percent. Since its inception, it has delivered an average annual return of 14.74 percent.

The S&P 500 does a good job of tracking the market, but that doesn't mean it will suit your investment needs. If you are retired and trying to maximize the income you generate, you should consider Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF.

Any time is good for investing in index funds when you plan to hold the fund for the long term. The market tends to rise over time, but not without some downturns along the way, thanks to short-term volatility.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds are similar in many ways but ETFs are considered to be more convenient to enter or exit. They can be traded more easily than index funds and traditional mutual funds, similar to how common stocks are traded on a stock exchange.

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM)

The better Vanguard ETF for their needs is likely VYM, which delivers a higher 2.9% 30-day SEC yield by targeting the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. It also charges the same expense ratio as VIG does, at 0.06%.

Over the long run, they do compound—those fee differences—and investors have been putting a lot more money into VOO versus SPY. That is the reason why we view VOO slightly better than SPY. And that is just the basic approach, which is the lower the investor can pay, the better the investment is.

The bottom line is that even billionaires recognize the wealth-creation potential of low-cost index funds. Even if you're an active investor in individual stocks -- like Buffett and Dalio are -- rock-solid index funds like these four can help form an excellent backbone for your portfolio.

Ideally, you should stay invested in equity index funds for the long run, i.e., at least 7 years. That is because investing in any equity instrument for the short-term is fraught with risks. And as we saw, the chances of getting positive returns improve when you give time to your investments.

Disadvantages of index funds. While index funds do have benefits, they also have drawbacks to understand before investing. An index fund tends to include both high- and low-performing stocks and bonds in the index it's tracking. Any returns you earn would be an average of them all.

The Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF has a 4.74% dividend yield, the highest among our recommendations, but its risk is average. Meanwhile, the iShares Core High Dividend ETF has a 4.09% dividend yield but an expense ratio of only 0.08%, much lower than the 0.3% ratio for the Invesco fund.

What is the most aggressive index fund? ›

The largest Aggressive ETF is the iShares Core Aggressive Allocation ETF AOA with $1.91B in assets. In the last trailing year, the best-performing Aggressive ETF was EAOA at 18.14%. The most recent ETF launched in the Aggressive space was the iShares ESG Aware Aggressive Allocation ETF EAOA on 06/12/20.

S&P 500 1 Year Return is at 20.78%, compared to 27.86% last month and 0.91% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 6.75%. The S&P 500 1 Year Return is the investment return received for a 1 year period, excluding dividends, when holding the S&P 500 index.

Quant Small Cap Fund(G) tops the chart with over 39% returns followed by Quant Mid Cap Fund(G), Nippon India Small Cap Fund(G), Quant Flexi Cap Fund(G) and Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund-Reg(G) in the same pecking order. 1.