New Delhi, Dec. 4 -- If you are planning to focus on long-term wealth creation, there are several options to invest in equity mutual funds. However, two categories of mutual funds that are considerably popular among retail investors are equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) and index mutual funds.

Index mutual funds are far more popular, with 345 schemes in total and assets under management (AUM) of Rs.3.20 lakh crore, whereas the number of ELSS mutual funds stands at 42 in the entire mutual fund universe with total assets of Rs.2.53 lakh crore, according to Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data.

While all index mutual funds are passively managed, some ELSS funds are actively managed as well. Earlier (prior to May 2022), ELSS ...