UK – Enhanced equity specialist Macquarie has reviewed academic research into UK active equity fund managers – and, unsurprisingly perhaps, found little or no evidence that they are effective.

The study was conducted by Macquarie Funds Management’s Phillip Dolan, Patrick Hodgens and Mark Mullen. Their report reviewed five separate academic studies into the performance of UK active equity fund managers.

“The studies … are virtually unanimous in finding that, on average, active UK equity managers do not add value, on a risk-adjusted basis, compared with various measures of a low-active risk, low-cost alternative, such as an investment in the FTSE All Share index,” the report states.

The findings are more pronounced, they say, when the returns are measured before management fees are deducted. There was also no evidence of “consistent value added” by managers on a non-risk adjusted basis, they said.

The report concludes: “The studies reviewed here find little, if any, evidence of outperformance by the average UK active equity manager.”

Macquarie has 10 billion pounds (15.6 billion euros) in funds under management in the UK and is part of the Australian bank of the same name.