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Want to prosper from shares over the long term, but not sure about investing in individual companies? Consider an index tracker. Here are three popular ways to follow the market: (If any of these short rundowns lose you, the Pros And Cons Of Different Investment Funds will put you straight). 1. Exchange traded funds (ETF): An ETF is a share that represents a portfolio of holdings designed to closely track a specific index. It can be bought and sold in the same way as the shares of an individual company. The spreads are tiny, they incur no stamp duty and one broker, Comdirect, doesn't even charge you a fee when you buy them. But there's no dividend reinvestment facility and making regular investments can be tricky. The total expense ratio for the iShares FTSE 100 (LSE: ISF) ETF that tracks the FTSE 100 is 0.4% per annum. Read more | more. 2. Investment trusts: An investment trust is in reality a company whose directors invest shareholders' money in the shares of normal 'trading' firms. Similar to the ETF, investment trusts can be bought and sold like ordinary shares anytime during normal market hours. Unlike ETFs though, investment trusts can sometimes be valued at a discount or premium to their underlying asset value, and therefore tracker investment trusts may experience slight variations to the market's overall return. Purchases also incur stamp duty, dealing commission and small spreads, while dividend reinvestments can be awkward as well. Some trusts do however operate regular investment schemes. A popular tracker investment trust is the Edinburgh UK Tracker Trust (LSE: EUK), which mimics the FTSE All-Share index. At under 0.25% per annum, it charges less than the ETF. Read more | more. 3. Unit trusts/OEICs: Unit trusts and Open Ended Investment Companies are your traditional type of investment fund and pool investors' money together to buy a spread of ordinary shares. Buyers do not experience asset premiums and discounts and for some unit trusts and all OEICs, there's no bid/offer spread to worry about. Unlike ETFs and investment trusts, prices of unit trusts and OEICs are calculated once a day and the administration of such funds means you can't always deal in real time. But they do allow the reinvestment of dividends (by granting accumulation units) and provide schemes for small, regular contributions. A good example of a unit trust tracker is the Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) FTSE All-Share tracker (advertised on the Fool here). It has no spread and the only charges are a 0.5% annual management fee and a 0.03% per annum cost for 'extra expenses'. Read more | more. What now? Though each has its pros and cons, tracker investors are unlikely to go too far wrong with the products mentioned above. If you're unsure whether an index tracker is right for you, read this series of articles. More: Pros And Cons Of Different Investment Funds Maynard owns a few iShares FTSE 100 and contributes regularly to a unit trust-based tracker.