Practical analysis for investment professionals

Active vs. Passive Investing


Active vs. Passive Revisited: Six Observations

Does it make sense to reframe the active vs. passive debate? Perhaps the question — active or passive? — is not the right one to ask.

The Active Management Delusion: Respect the Wisdom of the Crowd

"Neither the Financial Analysts as a whole nor the investment funds as a whole can expect to ‘beat the market,’ because in a significant sense they (or you) are the market."

Myth-Busting: ETFs Are Eating the World

What effect has passive investing, including ETFs and index-tracking mutual funds, had on the US stock market?

Are Reindeer Good Stock Pickers?

Beating a passive benchmark is hard. And that's true for both reindeer and people.

Passive vs. Active Management: Three Myths in DC Plan Strategy Selection

Actively managed strategies should have a place at the core of well-designed retirement plans.

Passive Management: The Baseline for Defined Contribution Plan Sponsors?

If active managers cannot add value, then passive is the preferred position, not the other way around.

Actively Managed Funds Are Appropriate Options for 401(k) Plans

Actively managed funds can serve plan participants well.

Did Corporate Bond ETFs Kill the “Alpha Stars”?

The race for scale among active managers in response to low-cost ETF competition may be self-defeating.

Passive Funds and “Do No Harm” Are Not Synonymous

The notion that choosing active or passive will in some way lower fiduciary risk is unfounded.

A Pillar of Modern Finance Turns 50

Quick, what is 1 July 2021 the 50th anniversary of?