Summary
Since the inaugural release of the S&P Indices Versus Active Funds (SPIVA) U.S. Scorecard in 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has served as the primary authority in the active versus passive investment discussion.
The SPIVA MENA Scorecard measures the performance of actively managed MENA equity funds against their respective benchmarks over various time horizons, offering insights into underperformance rates, survivorship and dispersion of fund performance.
Year-End 2024 Highlights
2024 proved to be fortunate for most active equity managers. While overall market performance was moderate, a meaningful portion of funds across most categories managed to exceed their benchmarks. Saudi Arabia Equity funds distinguished themselves in particular, with 87% outperforming the S&P Saudi Arabia (see Exhibit 1).
MENA
- The majority of MENA Equity managers outperformed the S&P Pan Arab Composite and S&P Pan Arab Composite LargeMidCap Index over the one-year period, with 43% and 39% of managers underperforming their benchmarks, respectively.
- Over longer time horizons, fund managers struggled to beat their benchmarks, with over 85% of MENA Equity funds underperforming both benchmarks over the 10-year period (see Report 1a).
- Survival rates for active MENA Equity funds were lower than the other two categories, with only 50% of funds surviving over the 10-year period (see Report 2).
