The debate over the value added, or not added, by active portfolio managers continues, thanks to a Morningstar article scrutinizing the underperformance of four active funds.

The funds placed under the microscope are: Janus Capital's [] Janus Fund and Janus Growth & Income fund; Fidelity's [profile] Disciplined Equity fund and Franklin Templeton's [profile] Mutual Beacon fund.

Regarding the Janus funds, the analyst writes: "The past couple of years have been a tough slog for most of Janus' U.S. large-cap funds, and these two aren't exceptions."

As for the Fidelity fund, he declares: "If quantitative funds in general caught a cold during the turbulent past few years, this one came down with pneumonia."

The Morningstar analyst notes that the inclusion of the Mutual Beacon fund might be a surprise to some, but wrote that the fund "lagged the S&P and the large-value category norm in the fairly different market environments of 2010 and 2011, and is now an annualized 3.3% behind the S&P 500." 

Edited by: Tommy Fernandez


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