The latest
(SPIVA), which compares the performance of actively managed funds and
the indices that benchmark against them, revealed that indices
outperformed most active funds in six of the nine style categories
during 2005, while active funds outperformed indices in the other three.
The S&P MidCap 400 outperformed 76.0% of actively managed mid-cap funds, and the S&P SmallCap 600 outperformed 60.5% of actively managed small-cap
funds. The active managers came out marginally ahead in the large-cap
category, with 55.5% of funds outperforming the S&P 500 over the period.
"Large-cap active funds benefited by being overweight in leading
sectors, such as energy, real estate and utilities in 2005," said Rosanne Pane, mutual fund strategist at Standard & Poor's. "Large-cap funds, which could invest in large, foreign companies, were also helped by international markets, which outperformed the U.S. markets last year."
For more information, including the complete year-end SPIVA scorecard,