Actively Managed Funds vs Index Funds: Which is Better

Q. Which is better: actively managed funds or passively run funds?

A. Based on a recent study, it appears passively run index funds are winning over actively managed funds, largely due to the lower fees.

The study compared the 5-year performance results from June 30 2009 to June 30 2014, in the following categories:

Fund Category    Actively Managed    Index
Large-cap                17.3%                     18.8%
Small-cap                19.8%                     22.0%
Global                      14.3%                     15.5%
Real Estate              20.1%                     23.8%