Investors haven’t soured on all active fund managers -- only those who pick U.S. stocks.
Actively managed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that own domestic stocks experienced $98.5 billion in net redemptions in the first six months of 2017, according to the latest figures compiled by Morningstar Inc. Active funds that buy international stocks attracted inflows of $8.7 billion and active funds that buy bonds gathered $106.5 billion.
“The trend for U.S. stocks funds keeps going and going,” said Russel Kinnel, director of manager research at Morningstar. “There is a perception that they can’t beat their benchmarks, especially when it comes to large-cap stocks.”
Passive mutual funds and ETFs remain popular across the board. Those funds had inflows of $394.1 billion in the first six months of the year, while active funds as a group saw net redemptions of $6.8 billion. The trend has benefited the two biggest money managers, BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group, both of which are best known for their passive products.
Some active mangers such as Fidelity Investments have added a lineup of passive funds to attract money while others like T. Rowe Price Group Inc. have doubled down on stock picking, betting their performance can help them buck the trend.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.