Editor's letter: A balanced approach

Passive funds down over active

Amid choppy stockmarket moves, geopolitical turmoil, and economies shifting gears as the world moves beyond the coronavirus pandemic, a certain anniversary may have escaped most investors.

This year marks the 50th birthday of the index fund, when Wells Fargo created a $6m ETF for Samsonite's pension programme. It is unlikely that the firm's John McQuon, who spearheaded the operation, would have envisaged more than $16trn of the world's wealth winding up in index funds which, according to research from the FT, amounts to almost double the amount of money held across the venture capital, hedge fund and private equity industries.  The ‘active versus passive' argument has evaporated over the years, with most investors agreeing unanimously that a combination of both within a po...