The asset management industry has been disrupted by the trend toward increased index investing. Over the years, CFS has explored this phenomenon. As we look to dig deeper, we encourage members and friends to share insights, papers, or studies.
Although it is rare for us to distribute company research, BlackRock’s “Index Investing Supports Vibrant Capital Markets” is well worth a read. The piece addresses many elements in the active versus passive debate as well as establishes useful concepts from a practitioners’ point of view.
Key themes include:
- Index investing is still small or less than 20% of global equities,
- Asset owners and managers sport different strategies and interests,
- The balance between active and index management may ultimately be self regulating,
- Passive owner corporate voting records are mixed between favoring both management versus activist investors.
As the trend will influence the future of the industry, many have raised questions regarding the impact of the move toward index investing in financial stability more broadly.
CFS welcomes and encourages view points and research on all sides of the discussion. Please email any papers to Lauren Cooper, manager of communications (lcooper@the-cfs.org) or me.
“Index Investing Supports Vibrant Capital Markets” can be found at:
https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/en-us/literature/whitepaper/viewpoint-index-investing-supports-vibrant-capital-markets-oct-2017.pdf