The grim top to bottom picture for active managers

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

12 May 2026

The latest S&P Australia Persistence Scorecard has confirmed just how hard it has been for active managers over the past five years and how fleeting outperformance can be.

The bottom line finding of the Scorecard is that among the top-quartile funds in all reported Australian fund categories over the five-year period ending in December 2020, only 22.4% maintained their top-quartile status in the subsequent five-year period, while 46.6% dropped to the bottom quartile or were merged or liquidated.

It found that bonds funds provided an exception, with more funds staying in the top quartile than falling to the bottom quartile or being merged or liquidated.

The S&P report said that among active funds, persistent outperformance was generally difficult to find in equity strategies whereas, conversely fixed income funds showed some signs of skill, with a number of funds consistently outranking their peers over the past five years.

It said that among Australia’s top-performing equity funds, most failed to maintain their outperformance in subsequent years. Of the 75 Global Equity General funds ranked in the top quartile in 2023, only 12 (16.0%) remained in the top quartile in 2024 and 2025.

“The results were worse for Australian Equity General funds, with only 5 (7.1%) of the 70 top-quartile funds sustaining their status for the following two consecutive years,” the report said.