The elephant in the room

A few days back, on a popular Q&A website, I came across what might be called the quintessential beginners' question about investing. A young person who started earning an income a few years ago now finds that he has enough money to save but does not know where to begin. Unlike a passive saver who waits for someone to come and pitch something, he has done his basic homework. He knows that he wants to invest for the long term. He knows that long-term means 10 to 15 years, and not the one year that tax law says it is. He knows that equity is the asset class into which his investments must flow--he has no illusions that fixed income can generate returns that can beat inflation by any margin worth talking about. He has also done enough research to know what his options are for such an investment. Suggested read: The best path to prosperity His list of options includes actively-managed equity mutual funds, equity funds with passive portfolios like index funds and ETFs, and direct investments in equities for which he will research and select the stocks himself. However, he's not very sure which of these will best suit the purpose, which is what he's ask