Active management

Even when the market was climbing to records earlier this year, John Miller’s risk appetite exceeded that of some of his peers.

Proponents have long touted the new structure as a way for the industry to compete with mutual funds.

With fewer people investing in active strategies and more options to choose from, competition is extremely fierce.

Emulating traditional advisors, digital advisors are moving in the direction of planning offerings and advisor-client contact (albeit virtual).

Morningstar finds that active managers have left a lot to be desired.

Fund managers may be better equipped to weather the market storm than their passive peers because of their ability to quickly cut risk.

Passive ETFs are often among the first to feel the pain of investors fleeing risky emerging markets for safer assets.

Investment in socially beneficial activities can be worthwhile. But it ignores the question of who decides what is beneficial.

The $180 billion asset manager is moving ahead with plans for actively-managed ETFs that disclose their holdings like mutual funds.

Although roughly 40% of the actively managed industry beat their indexes, the worst-performers eked out an average gain of just 1.07%.

The rewards for the men — and they’re all men — are notable, especially given only a third of the top 15 managers on the list beat the S&P 500.

They’re more expensive than their passive peers. But did they beat their benchmarks?

The move expands the manager’s commission-free platform, which has included all mutual funds since 1977 and all ETFs since 2010.

Macro funds, which invest in broad global trends, had the biggest disparity.

To grow, firms need to be as engaged in the marketing and sales side of their business as they are in the investment side.

Once a top-performing fund with assets well over double today’s value, Templeton’s flagship bond fund has been diminished by the march of passive investments.

The 82-year-old company’s strategy has helped secure net inflows in all but one of the five years through 2018.

Funds that track custom-built indexes often seek exposure to securities based on factors like ESG and strategies that would typically be actively managed.

Asset managers who flocked to safety in utilities and dividend stocks at the end of 2018 have seen their pain compounded by the latest risk-on rally.

Among the honors this year by NICSA are awards for operational excellence, and advances in product development and technology.