index fund
4 synonyms and 2 antonyms for index fund, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — An investment fund that holds the same things as a published market index, in the same proportions, so that its value rises and falls roughly in step with that index instead of relying on a manager to choose individual investments.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
tracker fund
passive fund
index tracker
indexed fund
Antonyms
actively managed fund
active fund
How to use index fund
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
broad index fund
index fund investing
low-fee index fund
S&P 500 index fund
Neutral and standard in both professional and consumer finance writing. Two words in normal use.
Etymology
A compound of index, a published measure of a market's overall value, and fund, a pool of money invested on behalf of many people.
Full origin of index fund →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an index fund and an actively managed fund?
An index fund simply copies a benchmark and holds whatever is in it, so almost no judgement is involved. An actively managed fund pays people to decide what to buy and sell in an attempt to beat that benchmark. Because active management costs more to run, active funds usually charge higher fees.
What is the difference between an index fund and an ETF?
They answer different questions. Index fund describes the strategy, which is to mirror an index. ETF describes the wrapper, which is a fund whose units trade on a stock exchange all day. A fund can be one, the other, or both at once.
Can an index fund lose value?
Yes. It holds the same investments as its index, so if the index falls the fund falls with it. Tracking an index removes the risk of a manager choosing badly; it does not remove the risk of the market itself declining.
