To complement index funds, we recommend also using actively managed funds investing in growth companies and emerging markets as well as theme funds. A sign of a good index fund is that its performance is not far from the benchmark index.
The overall management of investments requires the investor's own effort, but index funds offer an agile and low-cost way to execute one's own view of global stock market performance. In index funds, the portfolio manager's role mainly consists of cost-efficient execution of the fund according to the index.
As part of an overall asset management portfolio, index funds are naturally a good selection for anyone. Thanks to their low fees, index funds can well complement actively managed funds in the portfolio of, say, a long-term saver or pension saver. Index funds are primarily recommended to an investor who intends to redeem his/her units after seven years at the earliest.