April 16, 2004 – Actively managed large-cap funds outpaced the S&P 500 in the first quarter of 2004, while most mid-cap and small-cap managers could not beat their benchmarks.
Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard (SPIVA) revealed that 55% of large-cap managers outpaced the S&P 500 Index during the first quarter. Meanwhile, the S&P MidCap 400 index outperformed 62.2% of mid-cap funds, while the S&P SmallCap 600 index outpaced 67.6% of small-cap funds.
Over the past twelve months, growth managers have outperformed their index benchmarks across large-, mid- and small-cap categories. “Growth managers have benefited from the aggressive recovery in the stock market,” noted Rosanne Pane, Mutual Fund Strategist at Standard & Poor’s. “Over the past 12 months, 74.0% of large cap growth funds, 57.7% of mid-cap growth funds and 58.4% of small-cap growth funds have outperformed their index benchmarks.”
Over longer-time periods, indices continue to outperform. Over the last five years, the S&P 500 outperformed 52.3% of large-cap funds, the S&P MidCap 400 outperformed 86.2% of mid-cap funds, and the S&P SmallCap 600 outperformed 72.7% of small-cap funds.
Over the last three years, the S&P 500 outperformed 65.5% of large-cap funds, the S&P MidCap 400 outperformed 84.5% of mid-cap funds and the S&P SmallCap 600 outperformed 71.1% of small-cap funds.