Active management

In these challenging economic times it is essential to have skilled active fund managers but they are tricky to identify. Michael Klimes looks at how to find them.

There are no boundaries to smaller schemes taking environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into consideration in their investment decisions says Mark Thompson.

The UK watchdog has discovered problems with how some asset managers market their funds after finding several actively managed products that in reality closely track benchmarks.

Despite heightened awareness of index huggers, this cosy practice is still a big problem, finds PP.

Despite a decade of fierce debate over fees, many active equity managers in the UK have remained impervious to the global rise of passives. However, a growing bank of parlous historical data and changes in smart passive design may yet precipitate a great extinction according to Nick Samuels.

BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) has pulled its inflation-linked bond mandate from Hermes Investment Management, cutting assets under management (AUM) at the business - which it still owns - by more than a quarter.

Most active funds have underperformed their passive benchmarks over the last ten years, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The 0.75% charge cap on auto-enrolment default funds does not prevent investors from using active management in volatile sectors where it can add value, says HSBC Global Asset Management.

Using active share to measure a manager's ability to outperform could be detrimental for schemes, according to Hermes Investment Management.