高盛集团的一项研究显示，与价格不可知论者无忧无虑地将资金投入最大型公司、进而加剧市场扭曲这种流行说法相反，基本面，例如企业盈利的稳定性，仍然是股票估值的强大推动力，而且被动型投资者的影响力要小得多，假如有的话。The passive investment trend is accelerating. Wall Street has new anxieties about the dangers brought by the index tracking frenzy.
With less than a month left until the end of 2024, index funds have attracted approximately $5 billion in new capital, while their actively managed counterparts are experiencing outflows. In recent weeks, the increasing dominance of index investments has sparked strong dissatisfaction from active fund management giants Apollo Global Management and Citadel, who accuse the surge in index tracking funds of undermining the key role of stock pickers in enhancing market efficiency, and so on.
But the two major Wall Street banks have defended this trend in asset allocation. Just last month, passively managed ETFs listed in the USA received a record $1.5 billion in inflows.
A study by Goldman Sachs Group shows that contrary to the popular belief that passive investors mindlessly pumping money into the largest companies aggravates market distortions, fundamentals such as the stability of corporate earnings remain a strong driver of stock valuations. The influence of passive investors is much smaller, if any.
A team led by Citigroup's Scott Chronert also reached a similar conclusion. They found that active fund managers have a significantly greater impact on stock performance relative to their sectors compared to passive fund managers. This is a rebuttal to critics like Inigo Fraser Jenkins at Bernstein who claim that index investors have caused asset price distortions to unprecedented levels.
As ETFs, which are primarily passive products, become increasingly attractive to cost-conscious investors, this controversy continues to ferment. Bloomberg industry research analysis shows that passive products currently represent 62% of US stock fund assets, far higher than 35% a decade ago. But as index funds become the preferred option for tracking large stock indices, there is growing suspicion about what might be wrong with the market.
"The market hasn't completely broken down, but it can be said that efficiency has decreased," said Matthew Fine, a fund manager at Third Avenue Management focusing on value stocks.
According to assembly data, in passive stock investment tools, ETF attracted $50 billion in funds in the first 11 months of 2024, while mutual funds absorbed $38 billion by the end of October. In contrast, active stock investment tools saw outflows exceeding $150 billion.