More than two dozen index funds are available for investors
Index Funds are passive mutual funds that replicate the performance of various stock indices. In this case, the Fund Managers rarely play an active role in choosing sectors and stocks to build the portfolio, but instead invest blindly in all the stocks that are part of the index where they allocate the assets. The fund managers leave the asset performance to the performance of the index. The weightage of the stocks in the fund matches the weightage of each of the stocks forming the index.
When the weight of a stock within the index changes, the fund manager acts accordingly by selling or buying particular stocks to align with the new composition of the index. For index fund managers, managing assets is relatively straightforward. Investors’ returns depend on the index they choose to invest in. Tracking errors can occur because it is difficult to hold the securities of the index in the same proportions, and transactions may incur additional costs. However, index funds are said to be ideal for those who are averse to the risk associated with mutual fund investments or investing in individual stocks. Investors in the index funds gain from the moment the broader market.
Top index funds
- Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty 50 Index Fund
- Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct Plan Growth
- Bandhan Nifty 50 Index Fund
- Bandhan Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct Plan Growth
- DSP Nifty 50 Equal Weight Index Fund
- DSP Nifty 50 Equal Weight Index Fund Direct Growth
- DSP Nifty Next 50 Index Fund
- Franklin India NSE Nifty 50 Index Fund Direct Growth
- HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund
- HDFC Nifty 50 Index Fund -Direct Plan
- ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund
- ICICI Prudential Nifty 50 Index Fund
- ICICI Prudential Nifty Next 50 Index
- ICICI Prudential Nifty Next 50 Index Fund Direct Plan Growth
- LIC MF Nifty Next 50 Index Fund Direct Growth
- Motilal Oswal Nifty 50 Index Fund
- Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund
- Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund Direct Growth
- Motilal Oswal Nifty Next 50 Index Fund Direct Growth
- Motilal Oswal Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund Direct Growth
- Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund
- Nippon India Index BSE Sensex
- UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund
- UTI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund
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MF regains subscriber base
When stock markets go up, more investors open demat and trading accounts. Mutual funds also witness more subscriber additions. After months of slowdown since February 2025, July saw an addition of seven lakh subscribers compared with the previous month’s four lakhs and three lakhs each in April and May 2025 in the mutual fund segment. July performance is still much lower than the performance of most months in 2024. At present, the Indian Mutual fund industry has a subscriber base of around 56 million.
