S&P: Active Equity Funds Ruled in First Quarter 2003

April 8, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Actively managed equity mutual funds beat their corresponding Standard & Poor's indices during the first quarter of 2003, but lagged the indices over the long term.

According to the latest Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard (SPIVA) for the first quarter:

  • 49.3% of large-cap actively managed funds beat the S&P 500
  • 72.9% of mid-cap actively managed funds fared better than the S&P MidCap 400
  • 73.4% of small-cap active funds bested the S&P SmallCap 600.  

Indices Ahead

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.

The SPIVA report also determined that indices have fared better over the longer term than active equity funds. Over the last five years, the S&P 500 has beaten 60.2% of large-cap funds, the S&P MidCap 400 has beaten 92.8% of mid-cap funds, and the S&P SmallCap 600 has beaten 64.8% of small-cap funds.

In the last three years, the corresponding benchmarks outperformed 55% of large-cap funds, 68% of mid-cap funds and 73% of small-cap funds. In the last 12 months, the average domestic active equity fund lost 25.7% on an equal weighted basis and 24.8% on an asset-weighted basis. The broad US market, as measured by the S&P SuperComposite 1500, has lost 24.4%.

Also, according to the report, over the last three years, 14.9% of funds were merged or liquidated.

«