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michael_brower

Michael Brower

Former Associate Director, Index Investment Strategy, S&P Dow Jones Indices

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Sep 12, 2025

Wrapping Up the 2024 SPIVA Institutional Scorecard

For over 20 years, the S&P Indices versus Active (SPIVA®) U.S. Scorecard has assessed how active mutual fund managers perform against their relevant S&P Dow Jones Indices benchmarks across various timeframes and asset classes. The scorecard’s methodology was enhanced in 2015 to include institutional accounts and was further extended in 2023 to include separately managed…

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Apr 29, 2025

Harvesting Hope – Tax Optimization in a Down Market

As the dust settled from Tax Day, U.S. equities found themselves nearly approaching correction territory. Amid concerns over tariffs and other global trade frictions, the S&P 500® has fallen 5.6% YTD through April 28, 2025. In Exhibit 1, we see that The 500™ experienced its most significant drop in 2025 of nearly 6% on April…

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Apr 4, 2025

Navigating the Global Index Landscape amid Tariff Volatility

In an environment of rapidly evolving trade conditions, understanding the nuances of index performance across countries is essential. As trade policies fluctuate and central banks carefully evaluate the economic outlook, the repercussions for markets and global commerce may be significant. Reflecting on the past couple of years, it is noteworthy that the 12-month total return…

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Mar 12, 2025

Cerulli Associates Publishes Whitepaper on Redefining the Role of Index Providers

The financial services consulting firm, Cerulli Associates, recently published a research study on the use of index-based products within the U.S. retail wealth management market. Their whitepaper aims to shed light on how asset managers, asset allocation model portfolio providers, wealth manager home offices and financial advisors can better utilize index provider solutions.1 The study…

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Jan 30, 2025

Do Active Funds Outperform in Less-Efficient Markets?

Active managers sometimes tout their ability to select stocks in markets that are considered less informationally efficient and those that offer larger rewards to successful stock pickers. Smaller companies and those in emerging markets are typically presented as examples. What are the grounds for debate, and what do over 20 years of SPIVA® Scorecards tell…

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Nov 19, 2024

The Taxing Effect of Taxes

“Be thankful I don’t take it all, cause I’m the taxman.” George Harrison (The Beatles) in “Taxman” For over 20 years, S&P Dow Jones Indices has compared index performance against actively managed funds and published the results in the SPIVA® Scorecards. Active funds have often struggled to match the returns of capitalization-weighted benchmarks like the…

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Aug 13, 2024

2023 SPIVA Institutional Scorecard: SMAs/Wrap Accounts Are Here!

First published in 2002, the S&P Indices versus Active (SPIVA®) U.S. Scorecard measures the performance of active mutual fund managers against their respective S&P DJI benchmarks over various time horizons and across asset classes. In 2015, we extended the analysis to include institutional accounts to understand how institutional asset owners fared versus mutual funds against…

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