Active Investing versus Passive Investing
This is the battle that is happening on Wall Street since 1975 when John C. Bogle started the first fund company, The Vanguard Group, in the United States (US) offering to mom-and-pop investors low-cost index funds that aim to mimic the US index returns and charge extremely low cost for it (like 0.1% of the asset per year).
Before 1975, active trading (or active fund management) was the only thing available to investors who wishes to get someone to managed their money. These active funds seek to achieve above market returns for their investors, and in return they charge high fees (from 2% to 20% of the profits per year).
At the beginning, everyone was sceptical of the idea of an Index Fund, because it gives investors only market returns, not spectacular returns above the market rate. People are greedy and just cannot take ......