[tlb]

You're almost always better off buying individual stocks yourself. You can optimize your return in various ways, like tax loss harvesting to offset capital gains from other sources like stock options. There are cheap robo-advisors that can do this even with small amounts.

Also, you might agree with some activist fund exclusions, like tobacco or gambling.

[lawn]

You're not better of buying individual stocks compared to global index funds, that almost always ends up with you underperforming while taking more risk.