An Equity Fund is a Mutual Fund Scheme that invests predominantly in shares/stocks of companies. They are also known as Growth Funds. Equity Funds are either Active or Passive.  In an Active Fund, a fund manager scans the market, conducts research on companies, examines performance and looks for the best stocks to invest. In a Passive Fund, the fund manager builds a portfolio that mirrors a popular market index, say Sensex or Nifty Fifty. Furthermore, Equity Funds can also be divided as per Market Capitalisation, i.e. how much the capital market values an entire company’s equity. There can be Large Cap, Mid Cap, Small or Micro Cap Funds. Also there can be a further classification as Diversified or Sectoral / Thematic. In the former, the scheme invests in stocks across the entire market spectrum, while in the latter it is restricted to only a particular sector or theme, say, Infotech or Infrastructure. Thus, an equity fund essentially invests in company shares, and aims to provide the benefit of professional management and diversification to ordinary investors.