Funds: How to pick the best one?

06-05-2026

Funds are a popular way to invest because they make investing simpler, more diversified and easier to access than buying individual company shares on your own.

As a Nordea customer, you can choose from a wide range of funds through our digital investment platform. It offers not only funds managed by Nordea, but a diverse selection designed to help you build wealth and financial security.

How are funds managed?

Funds generally fall into two categories: passive and active. Passive funds, such as index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aim to track a specific market index, such as the S&P 500 (the US), STOXX Europe 600 (Europe) or DAX (Germany).

Active funds are managed by professional fund managers who decide, based on the fund’s different investment policies (for example the Swedish Equity fund cannot invest in the US), what the fund invests in – for example, shares, bonds or other assets – and when to buy or sell, with the goal of growing your money over time.

If you would like to learn more about how Nordea invests, read our Fund Magazine, which also features stories about companies we invest in. It is available in all Nordic languages.

Our focus on sustainability

All Nordea funds follow our Responsible Investment Policy, which means we do not invest in different things such as coal mining or illegal weapons, and that we maintain a fossil fuel policy. For customers who want a strong sustainability focus, we also offer dedicated funds. Learn more about our approach to responsible investing.

Get help picking investments that suit you

Choosing the right fund depends on your goals, time horizon and risk appetite. You can:

Use the fund selector in our mobile banking app or Netbank to filter and compare funds. Each fund has an information sheet to help you make an informed choice.
Ask Nora, our digital investment adviser. Nora asks questions about your risk appetite and financial habits and then suggests funds that fit your profile.
Get personal advice. Customers can book a meeting with an adviser to discuss their investment amount, time horizon and fund types.

Get going in your country

Denmark

Finland

Norway

Sweden

How to make smart investments

We aim to make investing simple and help increase financial literacy. Making smart investments requires information, which we provide in several ways. You can attend webinars, listen to podcasts and read articles for guidance on how to get started and adapt strategies that suit your age, life situation and goals.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution – it is important to tailor investments to your financial situation and ambitions.

Who rates the funds?

Many of our funds are rated monthly by Morningstar, an independent investment research company. They analyse past performance, risk level and fees, and assign each fund a rating from 1 to 5 stars. Read more about their methodology.

Disclaimers

You will see this warning in all our investment information: "Investment is never without risk. There is always a risk to lose parts or all of the invested amount." This disclaimer reminds you that investing depends on market performance, which can go either way. All funds include clear risk information, showing whether they involve high or low risk depending on their investments.

Did you know?

Last year we reported that 153 bn EUR in assets for more than 1.7 million Nordic investors was managed by our fund company Nordea Funds. This makes us a leading Nordic fund company and one of the largest institutional investors in the Nordics.

What are passive funds and where do humans come in?

Passive funds track a "market index" (like the "S&P 500") with little human decision-making involved. An index is a pre-defined list of securities (such as stocks, bonds, etc.) that represents a specific market or market segment and it follows automatic predetermined rules.

What asset managers do for passive funds:

Initial setup: Choose a fund structure (Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) or mutual fund) and select which index to track. ETFs are priced continuously during market hours, while mutual funds are priced once daily at NAV (Net Asset Value) after market close. The index chosen defines what investments are included.
Maintenance: Make mechanical adjustments when companies are added or removed from the index.
Technical operations: Regular system monitoring, gathering necessary data, and ensuring accurate index tracking.

What asset managers do not do for these funds: Make investment decisions based on market research, analysis or predictions.

The main mission of these funds is to follow the index formula passively. They also generally have lower fees compared with actively managed funds.

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