The S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) Scorecard1 provides a rich tapestry of data and insights on the active versus passive debate by comparing the performance of actively managed funds to their corresponding passive benchmarks. The SPIVA Latin America Scorecard is one of several regionally focused reports and covers the performance of active funds in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. Below are some takeaways from our latest year-end 2021 report.
- It Is Difficult to Outperform the Benchmark over the Long Run.
In the short run, most Brazilian Government Bond Funds outperformed the benchmark, but this swiftly turned into underperformance for holding periods of three years or more. Brazilian Large-Cap Equity Funds fared better, as slightly more than half of actively managed funds outperformed the S&P Brazil LargeCap for up to five years. In the short run, it is not unusual to see the average active manager flipping between underperformance and outperformance. After a decade, however, at least 70% of active funds underperformed in each category; underperformance among Chile’s active equity funds was the highest, with 98% of funds lagging their benchmark over the past 10 years.
- Funds Struggle to Survive across Categories.
The price of being a poor-performing active fund is hefty, with the worst-performing funds liquidating or merging with other funds. Exhibit 2 shows that Brazil Corporate Funds had the lowest survival rate, with only 32% of funds still alive after 10 years. Interestingly, despite low rates of outperformance among Mexican equity funds, 78% managed to keep their doors open after a decade.
- Even Among Survivors, Outperformance Rates Are Poor.
Using Exhibits 1 and 2, we can divide the SPIVA database into three groups: funds that did not survive, funds that survived but underperformed, and funds that both survived and outperformed. We can see that even among the funds that survived, more than two-thirds underperformed in nearly every fund category.
- The Picture Doesn’t Improve Much on an Asset-Weighted Basis
Exhibit 1 shows the outperformance rate of funds on an equal-weighted basis. Some may make the argument that funds with larger assets have more assets because they have historically outperformed, and that they maintain relatively large assets because they produce “alpha.” Report 4 of our recent SPIVA Latin America Scorecard shows that in only one out of seven active fund categories were funds able to provide an average asset-weighted return above its appropriate benchmark over a 10-year period. Brazil Large-Cap Funds provided the one “success” story, but only narrowly.
- And Finally, There Is a Wide Range of Performance among Active Funds.
While “alpha” may exist, identifying outperforming managers is difficult and the performance distribution of actively managed funds is skewed. The interquartile range, which is the spread between the first and third quartile breakpoints of active funds in their respective category, is quite wide, showing there is a large difference between top and bottom fund performances.
Get the latest numbers and more from the SPIVA Latin America Scorecard here.
1 SPIVA Scorecards: An Overview. https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/education/article/spiva-scorecards-an-overview
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