Andrew Slimmon, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, discusses the dangers of closet indexing in mutual funds. They explore the risks of not deviating from benchmark indexes and how transparency and active share impact performance. The conversation touches on the benefits of low-cost passive vs. concentrated active investing strategies.
Closet indexing blurs active and passive fund distinctions, leading to underperformance and high fees.
Balancing active share and tracking error is crucial for outperformance while avoiding unwanted risks.
Deep dives
Impact of Closet Indexing on Active Investing
Closet indexing poses a significant challenge to active investing strategies by blurring the lines between active and passive funds. Managers charging active fees while closely mirroring indexes fail to generate enough differentiation to justify the fees, leading to underperformance over time. Bill Miller's critique highlights how closet indexing tarnishes the reputation of the mutual fund industry, pushing investors towards more cost-effective indexing or truly active management.
Active Share and Performance Differentiation
Active share, measuring how a fund differs from its benchmark, plays a crucial role in determining performance outcomes. Higher active share managers, like Andrew Slemman's portfolios with concentrated holdings, tend to outperform over time. However, excessive active share coupled with high tracking error can introduce unwanted volatility and risks. Striking the right balance between active share and tracking error is key to potential outperformance.
Transparency and Risk Management in Portfolio Construction
Transparency in portfolio construction is essential to avoid the deceptive practices of closet indexing. While concentrated portfolios with limited positions may enhance transparency for investors, they also require careful management of correlation risk. An effective portfolio strategy involves diversifying holdings across sectors to prevent correlation-induced drawdowns and avoid the pitfalls of overreliance on a few highly correlated stocks.
Are your expensive active mutual funds and ETFs actually active? Or, as is too often the case, are they only pretending to be active? Do they charge a high active fee but then behave more like an index fund? If so, you are the victim of closet indexing.
Andrew Slimmon, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, leads the Applied Equity Advisors team and serves as Senior Portfolio Manager for all long equity strategies. He speaks with Barry Ritholtz about the best ways to avoid the funds that charge high fees but fail to provide the benefits of active management.