Is 2006 the year of the alpha generator or has stockpicking just been relabelled?

As in fashion when brown is the new black, in the UK funds industry it would appear that alpha is th...

As in fashion when brown is the new black, in the UK funds industry it would appear that alpha is the new bottom-up stockpicker. While one could argue that the two are one and the same, it does appear that UK sales directors and marketing departments have reached a consensus that, while the first five years of the millennium were the years of the stockpicker, 2006 is the year of the alpha generator. There is no denying the benefits of alpha generation. It seems fairly certain most investors in an actively-managed fund would appreciate a little alpha. But it seems the expression has beco...