Almost 90% of active UK equity funds beat benchmark - report

Almost 90% of active UK equity fund managers beat the benchmark index last year, far outstripping the performance of other active managers, an S&P Indices report has found.

According to a new report from Spiva (S&P Indices versus Active Funds), S&P's United Kingdom benchmark index bettered active managers only 11% of the time during 2013; over three years the figure was 23%; and over five years 14%. By contrast, S&P's Europe 350 equity benchmark outperformed active managers 61% of the time during 2013, 77% of the time over the past three years, and 64% during the past five years . Tim Edwards, director of index strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices in London, said the better performance in the UK could be due to the dominance of the largest five UK companies...