Active management

“These are tracking the industries that are supporting the economy and will continue in the post-pandemic world,” an expert says.

Among the decade’s worst performers — those with more than $1 billion in assets under management — were a handful of products with stellar short-term returns.

In the first half of the year, fewer than a third of U.S. domestic equity fund managers delivered annualized returns that outpaced the S&P Composite 1500.

“Investors are going into lower, more passive mutual funds because they don't want to pay the fees,” an expert says.

“A typical Gen Z-er may not be as interested in owning a mutual fund," says Contrafund's Will Danoff.

A rising appetite for achieving specific investment objectives, such as sustainable investing, is the main driver behind the projected rise in their popularity.

JPST, which tracks investment-grade securities maturing in a year or less, has attracted over $3.7 billion in flows this year.

Some of the biggest laggards have managed short-term gains of more than 40%.

Among some 500 large-cap U.S. mutual funds, those with at least one-third of manager positions held by women have beaten those with none, data show.

“The reality is they were always supported by a large team,” according to CEO Jenny Johnson.

While Guinness Atkinson pursues the first full mutual fund-to-ETF conversion, similar moves have begun elsewhere in the fund industry.

The fund industry's latest arrivals underline the seismic shifts underway in the business of asset management.

Despite growing to about $1.1 trillion in AUM, senior executives made a series of bets to keep pace in a changing industry that have yet to pay off.

The fast money has more than three times the impact on equity valuations than long-term investors like pension funds, according to a recent paper.

The firm announced plans in March to acquire $200 million of its stock and has been in the market on average once every three trading days since.

Some of the industry’s biggest players are taking a wait-and-see approach as active, non-transparent funds take their crucial first steps.

Leveraging big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence will extend stock selection beyond its current capabilities, according to Procure Holdings President Bob Tull.

Here's how the largest groups have fared during unprecedented market activity.

Still, clients continue to invest their assets into the industry’s cheapest funds and are saving billions as a result.

"It's now June and if you’ve been on a deserted island for the last five months you couldn’t have fathomed the movements we’ve seen," an expert says.