The managers running the biggest active funds picked stocks that beat the market in 2025 — and most still lagged their benchmark. A Morningstar do-nothing experiment and a body of academic research explain why active funds underperform even when the picking is good: skilled buying undone by poor selling, the hidden cost of trading, and the incentives that keep managers churning. The UK evidence points the same way.
The investment factor reveals a counterintuitive truth: companies that spend aggressively on growth tend to deliver lower returns than their cautious peers. With Big Tech pouring hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure, six decades of academic evidence suggest investors should be sceptical.
Robin Powell
Jan 208 min read
SUBSCRIBE
Simply provide your email address to receive our regular update.
