Traditional stockpicking fund managers have enjoyed an unusually good stretch in recent weeks even as machine-driven “quant” funds have fizzled, nurturing hopes that rockier markets may help human investors launch a comeback.
Over half of all US mutual funds that invest in big American companies managed to beat the broader stock market in May for the second month in a row, according to Bank of America. This indicates that many managed to navigate the recent trade war-related turbulence.
So far this year 47 per cent are outperforming the broad Russell 1000 index. Although this still means that over half of US “large-cap” equity mutual funds are trailing the market, if sustained this would be one of the best beat rates in the post-crisis era. Moreover, 54 per cent are beating the blue-chip S&P 500 index.