Challenging the Consensus - Back to Balance Sheets and Income

Active management has not always met with the success it enjoyed in 2013. The global financial crisis in 2008 resulted in severely shaken investor confidence which, over five years later, has yet to fully rebound. During the crisis, actively managed funds suffered poor performance as strategies that once outperformed no longer worked and failed to protect investors from declines. These events precipitated a flight from equities like never before. Over the past five years, significant dollar amounts have flowed out of equities, into bonds, alternatives, or under mattresses. Those that continue to hold equities have opted for passive strategies as index funds in various forms have amassed record amounts of fund flows.