On almost a daily basis we read negative stories about the rise of indexing.
You know the kind of stories I’m referring to — it’s grown too big, it’s inflating the prices of the biggest stocks, it’s making markets less efficient, it’s causing the misallocation of capital, it’s undermining corporate governance, and it’s all going to go badly wrong when the bear market finally comes.
Heck, passive investing has even been called “worse than Marxism” and accused of undermining the capitalist system.
I was recently invited by Trustnet magazine to respond to some of these claims.
Trustnet is a longtime champion of active fund management, and the very fact that it’s devoted most of its October issue to passive investing and made my article the cover story is a sign of progress.
The financial media has a vital role to play in helping investors to achieve better outcomes, and the gradual change in attitudes towards indexing among my fellow UK journalists is hugely encouraging.
What’s noticeable about all of these scare stories is that they emanate from the active management industry, or those connected to it — from people, in short, whose livelihoods are threatened by the growth of passive investing. Thank you, Trustnet, for the chance to put the consumer’s side of the story.
You can read my article here:
Trustnet magazine, Issue 44, October 2018
Robin is a journalist and campaigner for positive change in global investing. He runs Regis Media, a niche provider of content marketing for financial advice firms with an evidence-based investment philosophy. He also works as a consultant to other disruptive firms in the investing sector.
