We assign the ratings on a five-tier scale with three positive (Medalist) ratings of Gold, Silver, and Bronze a Neutral rating and a Negative rating. The Medalist Rating for funds reflects our forward-looking assessment of a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group (funds in the same category) and benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. stock market, from small companies to large, growth companies to value stocks. Funds in these categories cover most of the U.S. These U.S.-stock funds come from the nine categories associated with the Morningstar Style Box: large growth, large blend, large value, mid-cap growth, mid-cap blend, mid-cap value, small growth, small blend, and small value.
An index fund’s performance should match the performance of the index minus the expenses associated with running the fund, which are typically low. Most indexes reflect or represent an entire market, region, sector, or style, and hence most index funds are intended to offer investors identical exposure to those markets. Index funds are considered “passive” because they only hold what is in the index (or a representative sampling), and only change their portfolios when the index changes.
Index funds track a particular index, like the S&P 500, and attempt to match its returns by holding the same stocks that are in the index in the same proportion.
