i'm not sure of the options in your own place of residence, but in the US and Canada index funds are mutual funds that just copy some large established index (e.g. S&P 500). So you get the return of the total market and their fees are very low since the fund is not really managed other than balancing. Most actively managed funds that have a strategy rarely beat the market and they have much higher fees. Vanguard low cost index funds are the classic example in the US and Canada.