Fund buyers warm to low-cost active concept

Several years on from launch, retail fund buyers are showing increasing interest in a strategy which seeks to bridge the gap between passive and high alpha portfolios.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Active Index Plus fund, which aims to outperform the FTSE All Share with an ongoing charge of 0.4%, was converted from an existing JPMAM portfolio in 2011 in a bid to bridge the gap between passive and active products. This coincided with the launch of a similar fund from Schroders, sparking suggestions of a new wave of likeminded offerings, but fund flows failed to take off in both cases and Schroders subsequently closed its fund in 2013. JPM Active Index Plus, however, has almost doubled in size over the past eight months, from under £90m to a current ...