Passive investment has become quite popular in India over the last few years, be it through index funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs). As of October 2020, there are a total of 96 ETFs of which 75 schemes are equity-based with assets of over Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Five years ago, the assets were around Rs 200 crore across 57 products, and a decade back there were only 26 products with assets less than Rs 100 crore. Since passive funds usually have lower costs associated with them, they often result in higher returns. But do they always beat actively-managed funds? Should you invest in them? In a conversation with Outlook Money, Chintan Haria, Head (Product Development and Strategy), ICICI Prudential AMC, talks about all you need to know about index funds.