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Fund managers aren't bad at picking stocks, but they're terrible at this

Fund managers consistently fail at market timing despite claiming expertise, reveals the largest global study of mutual fund performance. While stock picking skills vary by country, timing abilities are universally poor across 21,000 funds in 35 nations. New research challenges industry claims about professional investment skills and fee justification.

TEBI

Crowd of retail investors walking through a busy public space, symbolising retail access to private markets and the hidden risks they face.

Retail access to private markets: hidden risks investors can’t ignore

Retail access to private markets has exploded in recent years. Yet new research shows these products aren’t the safe diversifiers they appear. Hidden behind the glossy brochures are smoothed returns, conditional liquidity, and fees of 4–5% a year. Worse still, the evidence suggests that wealthier investors are offered higher-quality funds, while mass-market buyers are left with weaker versions.

Robin Powell

2 days ago5 min read

Private equity’s fundraising crunch: investors call time on the boom

Private equity firms are dangling incentives that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Management fee cuts, rebates on deal...

Robin Powell

Aug 243 min read

A cartoon illustration showing a confident fund manager in a suit holding a golden balloon labeled "NAV 250" while pension fund representatives with briefcases queue behind him at a "Private Markets Magic" show, with one person dropping checks into an "Evergreen Fund" collection pot. The image satirizes how private equity managers attract institutional investors with inflated valuations while collecting fees, reflecting the article's theme that the private equity industry's performance claims may be more illusion than reality.

Through the looking glass: What the private equity industry doesn't want you to see

The private equity industry promises profound pension improvements for retail investors, but Oxford professor Ludovic Phalippou's research reveals a different reality. Like Alice in Wonderland, investors risk falling down a rabbit hole where fund managers capture £1 trillion in fees while delivering returns barely better than simple index funds.

TEBI

Jul 27 min read

A female magician performs a conjuring trick. IRR, says Ludovic Phalippou, has become "the theatre of private equity performance" — a beautiful illusion that crumbles under scrutiny.

How IRR manipulation deceives private equity investors

Private equity firms use IRR manipulation to claim impossible returns. KKR boasts 25.5% annually since 1976, Apollo claims 39%. But if KKR's first £31m fund truly compounded at 26%, it would be worth £2.6 trillion today. As Professor Phalippou explains, "IRR has become the theatre of private equity performance." With retail investors increasingly targeted, UK regulators must stop this deception.

TEBI

May 275 min read