SUMMARY
- S&P Dow Jones Indices has been the de facto scorekeeper of the ongoing active versus passive debate since the first publication of the S&P Indices Versus Active Funds (SPIVA) U.S. Scorecard in 2002. Over the years, we have built on our experience publishing the report by expanding scorecard coverage into Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, and South Africa.
- The SPIVA India Scorecard compares the performance of actively managed Indian mutual funds with their respective benchmark indices over 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year investment horizons. In this scorecard, we studied the performance of three categories of actively managed equity funds and two categories of actively managed bond funds over the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ending in December 2018.
- In 2018, Indian Equity Large-Cap and Indian Equity-Linked Saving Schemes (ELSS) fund managers struggled to beat their respective benchmark, with more than 90% active funds underperforming their respective benchmarks in both categories. The S&P BSE 100, the benchmark for Indian Equity Large-Cap funds, returned 2.62% over the one-year period, whereas the S&P BSE 400 MidSmallCap Index, the benchmark for Indian Equity Mid-/Small-Cap funds, ended in the red, down 17.16% during the same period.
- Indian Equity Large-Cap Funds: Over the one-year period, the S&P BSE 100 ended in the black, returning 2.62%, with 91.94% of funds underperforming the benchmark. In fact, across all the periods studied, the majority of actively managed large-cap equity funds in India underperformed the S&P BSE 100. Large-cap funds witnessed a low style consistency of 41.94% over the one-year period and a low survivorship rate of 66.67% over the 10-year period. The assetweighted fund return was 72 bps higher than the equal-weighted fund return over the 10-year period, and the return spread between the first and the third quartile break points of the fund performance was 3.39% for the same period.
- Indian ELSS: Over the one-year period ending December 2018, the S&P BSE 200 remained flat, at 0.82%. Over the one- and three-year periods ending in December 2018, 95.45% and 88.10% of funds underperformed the benchmark. Over the 10-year horizon, the return spread between assetweighted and equal-weighted returns was only 7 bps, but the return spread between the first and the third quartile break points of the fund performance was 3.62%.
- Indian Mid-/Small-Cap Equity Funds: The benchmark for Indian Mid-/Small-Cap Equity Funds, the S&P BSE 400 MidSmallCap Index, was down 17.16% during the one-year period ending December 2018. Though this equity segment ended deeply in red, only 25.58% of the active funds underperformed the benchmark over the one-year period. Over the 10-year period, the survivorship rate and style consistency were low, at 67.11% and 26.32%, respectively. For the same period, the asset-weighted fund return was 27 bps higher than the equal-weighted fund return, and the return spread between the first and the third quartile break points of the fund performance was 5.28%.
- Indian Government Bond Funds: The S&P BSE Indian Government Bond Index returned 7.93% over the one-year period ending December 2018. Across all periods, a majority of funds underperformed the benchmark, with 81.58%, 71.43%, 88.00%, and 96.43% of actively managed funds in this peer group underperforming the benchmark over the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods, respectively. Over the 10-year period ending in December 2018, survivorship rate and style consistency were at 37.50% and 33.93%, respectively. For the same period, the asset-weighted fund return was 14 bps higher than the equal-weighted fund return, and the return spread between the first and the third quartile break points of the fund performance was 90 bps.
- Indian Composite Bond Funds: In the 12-month period ending in December 2018, the S&P BSE India Bond Index closed in the black with a gain of 7.8%. Over the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ending in December 2018, 94.44%, 90.97%, 96.64%, and 83.33% of the actively managed funds in this category lagged the benchmark, respectively. Over the 10-year period, survivorship rate and style consistency were at 75.00% and 61.25%, respectively. For the same period, the assetweighted fund return was 40 bps higher than the equal-weighted fund return, and the return spread between the first and the third quartile break points of the fund performance was 1.49%.
- Average Fund Returns: In the one-year period ending in December 2018, the equal- and assetweighted returns of Indian Equity Large-Cap funds, Indian ELSS funds, and funds from both the bond categories were sharply lower than their respective benchmarks. In contrast, only the Indian Equity Mid-/Small-Cap category delivered higher equal- and asset-weighted average returns than its respective benchmark over the same period. Over the 10-year period, the largest outperformance relative to its benchmark was witnessed in the Indian Equity Mid-/Small-Cap fund category, as its asset-weighted return was 92 bps higher than its benchmark.