Actively vs. Passively Managed Funds Performance
From: www.morningstar.com
4 key takeaways from Morningstar’s U.S. Active/Passive Barometer
The Morningstar Active/Passive Barometer is a semiannual report that measures the performance of actively versus passively managed funds within their respective Morningstar Categories. The barometer is unique in the way it measures active managers’ success relative to the actual, net-of-fee performance of passive funds rather than an index, which isn’t investable.
We measure actively managed funds’ success relative to investable passive alternatives in the same category. For example, an active manager in the U.S. large-blend Morningstar Category is measured against a composite of the performance of its index mutual fund and exchange-traded fund peers Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), and so on. Specifically, we calculate the equal- and asset-weighted performance of the cohort of index-tracking (“passive”) options in each category that we examine, and we use that figure as the hurdle that defines success or failure for the active funds in the same category.
4 takeaways about actively vs. passively managed funds from our year-end 2018 report
- Just 38% of active U.S. stock funds survived and outperformed their average passive peer in 2018, down from 46% in 2017. Active value funds saw the biggest decline in success, with only 26% of such funds beating the average passive fund in their categories.
- Active funds’ success rates fell versus 2017 in 16 of the 20 categories we examined. All told, about 35% of active funds beat the passive composite for their category in 2018. The declines were greatest among active foreign stock funds, which were disproportionately affected by the downdraft in overseas equity markets. Active fixed-income funds’ success rates also dropped amid increasing jitters about credit risk.
