When it comes to financial advisers, active vs. passive isn’t really a debate about money management. It comes down to where they work. The fast growth of exchange-traded funds has sparked debate about everything from the rise of fee-based advisers to the wisdom of shunning active managers to the future of mutual funds. But a study released this week shows that actively managed mutual funds remain firmly at the center of the way financial advisers manage client money. The data is based on an annual Cogent Reports study that asked a representative sample of 1,390 U.S. advisers who manage more than $5 million how they allocate their clients’ money. The 2015 data was collected from January to March. Yet the study found that the substantial growth of ETFs, which now manage $3 trillion globally, has not been completely at the expense of active management, at least according to advisers. While ETFs generally track indexes, they can be traded actively.
A recent study by Congent Reports shows that actively managed mutual funds remain firmly at the centre of the way financial advisers manage mutual money . Most still kept more than two - thirds of clients assets ' active ' . On average they put a third of client assets in mutual funds , but they have lost relative value to adviser 's . The differentiating factor shown in the study is that RIA 's have embraced passive investing whilst other advisers have stayed active . The study seems to suggest that trends are changing but slowly , and even though the sample size was 1,390 it was limited to traditional financial advisers and does not factor in the decline of the robo - adviser .