Do active mutual funds outperform the market?
It found that over the course of one year, 51.08% of actively-managed mutual funds underperformed the S&P 500, and 48.92% of actively-managed funds outperformed the S&P 500. * However, those numbers change dramatically over longer periods of time.
In general, actively managed funds have failed to survive and beat their benchmarks, especially over longer time horizons. Just one out of every four active funds topped the average of passive rivals over the 10-year period ended June 2023. But success rates vary across categories.
Do mutual funds outperform the stock market? The study found that most actively managed mutual funds do worse than their benchmark index during most calendar years and over the long run.
Less than 10% of active large-cap fund managers have outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 15 years. The biggest drag on investment returns is unavoidable, but you can minimize it if you're smart.
Most active funds lagging
Active equity funds rely on managers' decisions, while passive funds attempt to track indices efficiently. As per SPIVA, five out of 10 large-cap funds underperformed the S&P BSE 100, while over 73% of mid- and smallcap schemes lagged the S&P BSE 400 MidSmallCap in 2023.
Another driver of the underperformance of active funds, according to McDermott, is fees: “All funds have years where they underperform, however, the longer-term evidence is undeniable that active managers have continued to struggle. The main reason for this underperformance is because active funds charge higher fees.”
Large Cap funds | 1-year-return (%) | 5-year return (%) |
---|---|---|
ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund | 37.38 | 17.29 |
Invesco India Largecap Fund | 37.59 | 15.34 |
Nippon India Large Cap Fund | 41.54 | 16.92 |
Tata Large Cap Fund | 32.43 | 15.22 |
What Are the Results? Generally, when you look at mutual fund performance over the long run, you can see a trend of actively-managed funds underperforming the S&P 500 index. A common statistic is that the S&P 500 outperforms 80% of mutual funds. While this statistic is true in some years, it's not always the case.
Fund | 2023 performance (%) | 5yr performance (%) |
---|---|---|
MS INVF US Insight | 52.26 | 34.65 |
Sands Capital US Select Growth Fund | 51.3 | 76.97 |
Natixis Loomis Sayles US Growth Equity | 49.56 | 111.67 |
T. Rowe Price US Blue Chip Equity | 49.54 | 81.57 |
Over the full year, a majority of actively managed funds underperformed their assigned benchmarks in most of our reported fund categories. In our largest and most closely watched comparison, 60% of all active large-cap U.S. equity funds underperformed the S&P 500.
What is the success rate of active funds?
Of the nearly 3,000 active funds included in our analysis, 47% survived and outperformed their average passive peer in 2023.
A whopping 74 per cent of actively managed mid and small-cap funds underperformed their benchmarks. This means that the majority of these funds failed to deliver returns that beat the average performance of the specific stocks they invest in (represented by the index).
For 2023, global emerging markets was the best spot for active investors, with 57% outperforming, followed by the UK and the US. However, when considering a 10-year scope, only 44% of active funds kept above the index and the active average return for 10 years only hit 56.5% while passive reached 60.5%.
Active Investing Advantages
They can buy those "diamond in the rough" stocks they believe they've found. Hedging: Active managers can also hedge their bets using various techniques, such as short sales or put options, and they can exit specific stocks or sectors when the risks become too big.
Actively managed funds are worth the risk if the fund manager can consistently beat the benchmark and generate alpha (excess returns) for the investors. However, this is not easy to achieve and depends on various factors, such as the fund manager's skill, market conditions, fund size, and expenses.
The main objective of actively managed funds is to beat the returns of the Sensex and Nifty and generate 'alpha'. Here the fund manager uses his/her experience, knowledge, and time for market research.
- there's no guarantee an active fund will perform better than the index – in fact, research shows that relatively few active funds do.
- it's not enough to just beat the index – active funds have to beat it by at least enough to cover their expenses, such as transaction fees.
Because active investing is generally more expensive (you need to pay research analysts and portfolio managers, as well as additional costs due to more frequent trading), many active managers fail to beat the index after accounting for expenses—consequently, passive investing has often outperformed active because of ...
Disadvantages of Active Management
Actively managed funds generally have higher fees and are less tax-efficient than passively managed funds. The investor is paying for the sustained efforts of investment advisers who specialize in active investment, and for the potential for higher returns than the markets as a whole.
Ticker | Name | 5-year return (%) |
---|---|---|
STSEX | BlackRock Exchange BlackRock | 16.27% |
USBOX | Pear Tree Quality Ordinary | 16.13% |
FGLGX | Fidelity Series Large Cap Stock | 16.08% |
PRCOX | T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research | 16% |
Has anyone ever lost money in a money market mutual fund?
However, this only happens very rarely, but because money market funds are not FDIC-insured, meaning that money market funds can lose money.
Although it is very difficult, the market can be beaten. Every year, some managers boast better numbers than the market indices. A small fraction even manages to do so over a longer period. Over the horizon of the last 20 years, less than 10% of U.S. actively managed funds have beaten the market.
I put my personal 401(k) and a lot of my mutual fund investing in four types of mutual funds: growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international.
The average mutual fund return for growth and income funds for the last 10 years is approximately 10.24%. Roughly 75% of mutual funds underperform their benchmark index over a 10-year period. As of 2019, mutual funds managed more than $22.5 trillion in assets.
How the Rule of 72 Works. For example, the Rule of 72 states that $1 invested at an annual fixed interest rate of 10% would take 7.2 years ((72/10) = 7.2) to grow to $2. In reality, a 10% investment will take 7.3 years to double (1.107.3 = 2).
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