The American Stock Exchange has created a group of unit investment trusts that give investors an easy way to invest in popular indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Each trust holds a portfolio of stocks similar to a mutual fund, but its shares trade like shares of any stock.
Similar trusts exist for other indexes.
One advantage the trusts have over mutual funds is that shares are priced throughout the day. With funds, you get the closing price on the day you decide to buy or sell. Both trusts and funds have low costs and are relatively tax efficient, which makes them both suitable for long-term investors. The only significant disadvantage the trusts have compared to mutual funds is that you have to pay a brokerage commission when you buy or sell, just as you would with any stock. Both trusts and funds are good vehicles for index investing.