Following the success of the SPIVA publications in the U.S. and elsewhere, we have decided to launch a similar publication for Europe to shed some light on the ongoing active vs. passive debate. Similar to the publications in other regions, SPIVA Europe will be published twice a year; mid-year and at the end of the year.
Let’s have a look at the results of the past year.
Euro-Denominated Equity Funds
The past year saw a strong rebound of the European equity markets, as measured by the S&P Europe 350®, which posted an impressive 21% gain. Over 1-year, 3-years and 5-years, most actively managed funds invested in European and Eurozone equities underperformed. This was equally true for both global equities and emerging market equities, which would have been expected to outperform their respective benchmarks in conditions of heightened volatility and wide return dispersion.
GBP-Denominated Equity Funds
The significant majority of the U.K. and European actively managed equities funds have posted better returns than the benchmark. This success was not repeated when it came to international funds, emerging market funds and U.S. funds, over the short-term and the long-term.