Subject and purpose of work: The subject of this study concerns profitability and risk of selected forms of investment on the Polish capital market. The aim of the study was to compare profitability and risk of active and passive investment portfolios. Materials and methods: The research material consisted of the rates of return on investments in the undervalued shares and growth shares included in the WIG-20 index and the results of the Lyxor WIG 20 UCITS ETF fund in 2014-2019. The study compares the rates of the return and standard deviations of returns of the portfolios managed actively and passively. Results: The analysis of the rates of return of the created investment portfolios indicates a higher profitability and a lower risk of the passive form of investment consisting in the purchase of an ETF fund. Among active strategies the growth investing strategy showed a higher profitability and a lower risk. Conclusions: Passive forms of investment are an effective alternative to active portfolio management.