最新的一项研究表明，对于那些基金经理人来说，遇到的问题不是交易上的事，更多的是他们基金的结构组合问题。
切忌千万不要从经纪人的手中购买积极管理型基金。
一位教授的研究表明，事实上，所有的基金不管是积极的还是消极的，其产生的根源都是一样的，跟基金的卖价，成本和费用无关。
疲弱的销售
这项研究将国内的股票基金分成了三类：国际基金；直接向购买者发售的基金和通过基金经纪人购买的基金。在这项研究中，作者还将每组中的积极和消极基金做了比较分析。
通过经纪人购买的基金就是指那些从投资者那里直接收取费用，补偿给经纪人的基金。许多的投资者都与基金经纪人合作，经纪人直接将这些基金对外出售，但是与他们的佣金是分开的。
积极型基金每年逊于指数型基金至少1%。与直接向投资人发行的基金对比，积极管理型基金的费后利润与指数型基金之间的区别是很难分辨的。
至于为什么在同一组基金中会出现有的基金远远不如指数型基金而另一些会好很多，是有很多的不确定因素导致的。路透社认为，其中基金经理人面临的经济补偿是一大诱因之一。
不难想象有那个经纪人愿意为了股东的利益而绞尽脑汁，节省每一分钱。
直接发行的基金，购买者十分在意风险指数。也就是说，如果他们承担的风险与利润不符，那么他们就会转而投向其他的基金，去寻找能够使得风险与利润相匹配的投资。
但是，那些通过经纪人购买基金的人，就必须始终如一。
你对行情越敏感你就越有优势去经营基金。通过经纪人购买的基金，我们很难找到有依风险定利润的基金。这可能是因为投资者们不太感兴趣或者经纪人坚持一个策略，也可能是其他什么原因。但是如果你的操作既不会得到奖励也不会受到惩罚，那么你就没有必要去太在意这件事。也不用把钱花在管理上。
指数型基金最划算
之所以要区分各种不同类型的基金，是因为许多通过经纪人购买基金的人都想买指数型基金，想要获得更高的利润。
问题是这是一个难做的买卖。经纪人操作的指数型基金比前锋和富达公司发行的成本较低的基金要贵的多。前锋和富达公司主要发售的基金直接面向广大购买者，而非通过转手给经纪人。
但是在经纪人管理的基金中，高成本的指数型基金还是要好过积极管理型基金。
如果想让基金经纪人为自己量身定做一个投资组合，他们会给你列出很多指数型基金，你也许不会喜欢这些，因为他们就只是从众多基金中随手拿来的几个，而不是为你量身定做的。
那些需要投资建议的人往往都得到的信息都是他们感兴趣的投资，一是因为他们想要了解这样的投资，二是，他们对这些了解的也不多。
一般来说，积极管理型基金更能促使人们去购买，与指数型基金旗鼓相当。但这并不是说人们都要蜂拥着去买积极管理型基金，但是如果你认为自己的技巧足够高，又能够独立操作，倒也不妨尝试一下这个机遇。
Now a recent study suggests that the problem for active managers may be not so much their trading activity than but the structure of their fund.
Just don’t buy an actively managed fund from a broker.
A professors’ study recognizes that virtually all research into active versus passive management styles assumes that all equity funds are created equal, without regard to the layers of costs and fees that are determined by how the fund is sold.
Weak sales force
This latest research instead separated domestic-equity funds into three distinct groups: institutional funds; issues sold directly to the retail consumer, and funds sold through brokers. Next, it compared how actively managed funds compared to index-fund rivals within each group.
Broker-sold funds, in this case, are those that collect fees directly from the investor to compensate the adviser. Many consumers work with advisers who, in turn, use funds sold directly to the public but are compensated separately.
With broker-sold funds, active managers underperform the index funds by more than 1% per year. In the direct-sold market, by comparison, the after-fee returns of actively managed funds “are statistically indistinguishable” from index funds.
There are a lot of possible reasons why one group of active managers lag the index but another doesn’t, but Reuter suggested much of it involves the incentive active managers have to deliver superior performance.
You’d think it’s a no-brainer that active managers would fight to beat the benchmark, but the real motivations come from shareholders.
In direct-sold funds, buyers are particularly sensitive to risk-adjusted returns; in short, if they don’t get returns consistent with the risks they are taking, they leave, and they take their money to funds that are delivering that kind of performance.
Meanwhile, the customers of the broker-sold funds, mostly, stand pat, Reuter said.
“The more sensitive you are to performance, the more you compete to deliver it,” Reuter said. “In the broker-sold channel, we did not find any sensitivity to risk-adjusted performance. That could be because the investors aren’t interested, or it could be that the brokers are sticking to a strategy and suggesting people stay put, or something else, but … if you are not being rewarded or punished by investors, you don’t have to be as concerned about it, and you don’t seem to invest as much in management.”
Index funds worth the cost
The distinctions are important because the study would suggest that anyone buying funds through a broker should want index funds, if only to capture that 1%-plus of superior performance over the years.
The problem, Reuter said, is that it’s a tough sell. Broker-sold index funds are, comparatively, expensive compared to the low-cost issues offered by a Vanguard or Fidelity, funds that are popular in the direct-sold group. (Ironically, they might turn to an adviser who buys those funds and pay as much as 1% per year to get those funds, although those fees are not part of the fund’s management costs).
In the broker-sold world, however, high-cost index funds are still better bets than actively managed funds.
“If you sit down with a broker and want them to customize a portfolio and they give you a listing of index funds, you may not be happy with it, like it’s from a black box and not designed for you,” Reuter said.
People who want advice are given the sort of products that appeal to them, either it’s because that’s what they want or they don’t know better.
Basically, when active management has the right incentive to act, it breaks even with the indexes. That’s not saying people should run out and invest in actively managed funds, but it is saying there is skill set out there, and if you are buying funds on your own and having those skills is what makes you comfortable about a fund, you can feel better about taking that chance.
