Active Management vs. Passive Management in the Colombian Private Pension Open Mutual Fund Industry: A Performance Analysis Using Proxy ETFs as Market Benchmarks (Borrador de administración No. 18)

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to find evidence that if actively managed Colombian private pension open mutual funds can outperform a specific market benchmark such as a passively managed ETF. After doing a review of the existing literature on the subject, the data form thirty (30) Colombian private pension open mutual funds along with the data of thirty (30) Exchange Traded Funds was used to obtain a set of common portfolio performance measures. The results obtained indicated that only two of the thirty portfolios under study were able to beat their respective market benchmarks on a risk-adjusted basis. The results indicate that in average a Colombian investor can obtain superior returns by investing in a passively managed product such as ETFs than in actively managed ones, such as the Colombian private pension open mutual funds. These results are consistent with the results of previous researchers and the existing body of literature on the subject of market efficiency.