百年保险资管董事长杨峻：被动投资大发展重塑资管价值创造逻辑

Core Viewpoint - The rise of passive investment is reshaping the asset management industry, leading to three significant impacts: the toolization of Beta, the specialization of Alpha, and the intensification of the Matthew effect [1][4]. Group 1: Growth of Passive Investment - Passive funds are experiencing rapid growth globally, outpacing active management in markets such as the US, Europe, Japan, and China [3]. - In China, passive strategies, particularly ETFs, are witnessing explosive growth due to their low fees, with broad-based index ETFs having management fees as low as 15 basis points (bps) compared to 120 bps for active equity funds [3][4]. - Policy support is enhancing the development of passive investment, with the new "National Nine Articles" establishing a fast-track approval process for ETFs [3]. - The preference for passive investment aligns with investor needs, as it has a lower cognitive barrier and is increasingly driven by retirement finance, with over 80% of index fund holders in the US being from personal retirement accounts and corporate pension plans [3][4]. Group 2: Performance and Market Dynamics - Although there is some debate regarding performance, the difficulty for active equity funds to consistently outperform passive funds is increasing, with only 21% of active funds in the US outperforming passive funds over the past decade [4][6]. - In China, 58% of active equity funds outperformed their passive counterparts in 2023, a decrease of 5 percentage points from 2022, indicating growing challenges in achieving excess returns in the A-share market [4][8]. Group 3: Impacts on Asset Management Industry - The passive investment trend is leading to the toolization of Beta, making passive products essential for both institutional and individual investors [5]. - For institutional investors, ETFs are becoming crucial for asset allocation, meeting demands for transparency, low volatility, and cost efficiency [5]. - The specialization of Alpha is highlighted by the need for active managers to focus on areas with low pricing efficiency and information opacity to generate excess returns [6][7]. - The Matthew effect is intensifying, with the top ten institutions in the passive equity fund space holding 66% of the market share, and 80% in the ETF sector, compared to only 46% in active equity funds [8].