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 2023 Highlights
A slim majority (55%) of Australian Equity General funds underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 in the first half of 2023. A higher percentage of funds underperformed their respective benchmarks in the International Equity General and Australian Equity A-REIT categories. Funds in the Australian Equity Mid- and Small-Cap and Australian Bonds categories had a better record: 48% and 45% underperformed their benchmarks, respectively.
- Australian Equity General Funds: The S&P/ASX 200 gained 4.5% in the first half of 2023, while on average, Australian Equity General funds rose 4.6% on an equal-weighted basis and 4.7% on an asset-weighted basis. The underperformance rate over this period was 55%, with the proportion of underperforming funds increasing to 81%, 79% and 81% over the 5-, 10- and 15-year time horizons, respectively.
- Australian Equity Mid- and Small-Cap Funds: The S&P/ASX Mid-Small rose 3.0% in the first half of the year, with Australian Equity Mid- and Small-Cap funds posting average gains of 3.7% on an equal-weighted basis and 5.1% on an asset-weighted basis. In this period, 48% of funds underperformed the benchmark, increasing to 64% over the 5-year horizon and 76% over the 10-year horizon.
- International Equity General Funds: In the first six months of the year, 74% of funds in the International Equity General category underperformed the S&P Developed Ex-Australia LargeMidCap, which gained 18.1% over the period. International Equity General funds gained 16.1% and 14.8% on equal- and asset-weighted bases, respectively. Underperformance rates increased over longer time horizons, with 95% of funds failing to beat the benchmark over 15 years.
- Australian Bonds Funds: The S&P/ASX Australian Fixed Interest 0+ Index rose 1.7% in the first half of 2023, while Australian Bonds funds posted similar average returns of 1.7% on an equal-weighted basis and 1.9% on an asset-weighted basis. The proportion of active Australian Bonds funds that underperformed the benchmark in this period was 45%, with this percentage increasing to 48% over the three-year horizon and 62% over the five-year horizon.
- Australian Equity A-REIT Funds: In the first half of 2023, 88% of funds in the Australian Equity A-REIT category underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT, the highest rate of underperformance among reported categories. The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT gained 3.9% over the period, while on average, active funds gained 2.8% on an equal-weighted basis and 2.5% on an asset-weighted basis.
- Fund Survivorship: Liquidation rates were moderate in the first half of 2023, with the number of merged or liquidated funds in the single digits across all but one category. International Equity General funds had the highest attrition rate, with 3.5% of funds merged or liquidated over the six-month period. The attrition rate increased over longer time horizons, with 57.7% of funds across all categories merged or liquidated in the 15 years between June 2008 and June 2023.
