The SPIVA Australia Scorecard measures the performance of Australian actively managed funds against their respective benchmarks over various time horizons, covering large-, mid- and small-cap equity funds, real estate funds and bond funds, providing statistics on outperformance rates, survivorship rates and fund performance dispersion.
Since the first publication of the S&P Indices Versus Active Funds (SPIVA) U.S. Scorecard in 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has been the de facto scorekeeper of the ongoing active versus passive debate.
Mid-Year 2024 Highlights
Over the six-month period ending June 2024, a majority (54%) of funds across all Australian fund categories underperformed their assigned benchmarks.
As highlighted in the SPIVA Global Scorecard, the first half of 2024 proved to be a particularly challenging market environment for active managers across developed equity markets, as the outperformance of the very largest companies resulted in a high proportion of index constituents underperforming their benchmarks. In Australia, 72% of actively managed Global Equity General funds trailed the S&P World Index’s total return of 14.9%, posting an asset-weighted average return of 11.8%, both measured in AUD (see Exhibit 3).
Australian domestic equity funds had relatively better results, as the country’s equity market set the bar significantly lower, with a 4.2% return for the S&P/ASX 200. A slim minority (48%) of Australian Equity General funds underperformed the S&P/ASX 200, while less than one-third (32%) of Australian Equity Mid- and Small-Cap funds underperformed the S&P/ASX Mid-Small (3.1%). Australian Equity A-REIT funds were an exception, with 79% of funds underperforming, partially driven by a high portion (15.4%) of funds failing to survive.
Many active managers in the Australian Bonds category had good results. Following a record low underperformance rate (26%) in 2023, only one-third of funds lagged the 0.2% return of the S&P/ASX Australian Fixed Interest 0+ Index in H1 2024.
