The Impact of Market Conditions on Active Equity Management

Abstract

Since the financial crisis, investors have enjoyed generally benign conditions, with subdued volatility and strong markets-but active equity managers have remained under pressure. Yet this should not be surprising; history has shown a strong pattern of counter-cyclicality in manager excess returns relative to the equity market. In this study, the authors take a close look at the relationship between equity market conditions (defined by market returns, volatility, and dispersion) and active equity manager results. Focusing on the U.S. large cap space, they analyze over 20 years of manager and market data to determine which set of conditions are associated with more or less favorable results for active equity managers.