Picking active managers isn't easy, but for those who are disciplined and know what they are looking for this could be the right time to go active.For at least a decade now passive management (managers who attempt to mimic an index) has been all the rage. Originally passive management advocates were only on posters in Tiger Beat, but now they are on the cover of Vanity Fair. More and more we get research, white papers, even client calls extolling the virtue of passive management over their active counterparts (managers who attempt to beat an index). The trend continues to move more and more toward passive managers. Will this ever change?
No, at least not forever, and I am a big advocate of passive
management. The reason was highlighted
to me in
the article.* Thesis: the trend will
continue to move as millennials, who are skeptical of active management,
migrate to passive managers and the older active managers, who make up the bulk
of active management, retire leaving new managers with little track record.
But the reason the trend will eventually reverse is the same
reason why the money ultimately started flowing that way – returns:
- Active management became popular in the 80s as ways to get diversified* market exposure and good rates of return
- As it gained in more popularity, more managers entered the field = lower % of managers beating their respective index as quality erodes.
- Many of these managers raised their fees given the increased demand, lessening their chance to beat the benchmark
- So here comes passive managers, cheaper and better performing than active managers
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 AND lower quality active managers leave the field as dollars move to passive AND if everyone is buying an index stocks will naturally become over and undervalued, creating a nice situation for active managers AND creates a self-reinforcing problem - during a market selloff who is buying if everyone is passive? This is where we are at.
- The small pool of high quality active managers who were probably in cash before the sell-off and may now be well positioned to outperform over the full market cycle
- Start over again
The debate of for academics, but why does this trend matter
to retail investors? Opportunity. With everyone moving towards passive
management, quality active managers should be better situated to beat an index
over a full market cycle. Picking active
managers isn’t easy, but for those who are disciplined and know what they are
looking for this could be the right time to go active.
Please see the important
disclosures that apply to this commentary HERE. See
important definition on diversification at the same link.
