Active management bias in global economy

Global asset manager Natixis has undertaken a survey to shed light on global biases towards certain investment types, with the main bias found being towards active management, particularly during volatile times. 

The survey was conducted on 200 professional global investors. 

Key findings of the research include:

• About 80 per cent of investors preferred active managers in this low-yield uncertain geopolitical  environment to help generate alpha
• Ninety-five per cent said they generally favoured active over passive strategies
• Almost 75 per cent said they preferred active strategies because of the exposure to non-correlated asset classes, with 77 per cent saying their preference was due to exposure to emerging markets
• Fifty-four per cent said investing in alternatives and thematic strategies is essential
• Forty-seven per cent said emerging market stocks in the equity sector will be the favourite of 2017
• Emerging market opportunities are being pursued in Asia (excluding Japan) for 2017
• Seventy-three per cent say the current market environment is likely to be favourable to active management
• Seventy-eight per cent say they are willing to pay a higher fee for the potential of outperformance
• About half say passive investing distorts relative stock prices and risk return trade-offs
• Almost 65 per cent say active management provides better risk-adjusted returns than passive