What do you do for a living.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Well, that has been more or less true historically, depending on what time period you look at, and the general idea is pretty uncontroversial. Even so, all of the funds I cover are actively managed, and the active vs. passive discussion is a lively one in the field. Here is a summary of a panel on the topic at the recent Morningstar Investment Conference:

http://news.morningstar.com/articlen...aspx?id=701870

and a column by my colleague John Rekenthaler about a recent article by Charley Ellis, an indexing legend, in defense of active management:

http://news.morningstar.com/articlen...aspx?id=702065

Good reading, thank you. I particularly thought this was well put, in the Rekenthaler piece:

Active managers do set efficient security prices. They do help global markets to function smoothly. But there's no particular reason why you need to own them.