For the first quarter of 2008, only 8.2% of Canadian equity active fund managers outperformed the S&P/TSX composite index.

According to the latest results for the Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active Funds Scorecard (SPIVA) for Canada, active managers in the Canadian focused equity category fared better with 46.3% beating the blended S&P/TSX composite benchmark (comprised of 50% S&P/TSX composite, 25% S&P 500, and 25% S&P/Citigroup EPAC PMI).

In the Canadian small/mid cap equity category only 24.1% of active managers outpaced the S&P/TSX completion index.

“Even during turbulent market conditions we continue to see the majority of active fund managers underperforming their relative S&P style benchmark,” says Jasmit Bhandal, director at Standard & Poor’s. “In addition, SPIVA results continue to show that active fund managers lag their passive counterparts on a one-, three-, and five-year period.”

SPIVA reports the performance of actively managed Canadian mutual funds corrected for survivorship bias, and shows equal- and asset-weighted peer averages. Over the past 12 months, actively managed Canadian equity, Canadian focused equity and Canadian small/mid cap equity equal weighted returns are lower than their respective indices, the S&P/TSX composite index, the blended S&P/TSX composite benchmark index, and the S&P/TSX completion index. Equal weighted returns of the aforementioned indices exceeded active managers in these categories by 5.2%, 0.1% and 2.3% respectively.

SPIVA results also show that, over the past 12 months, the equal- and asset-weighted returns of active international, global equity, and U.S. equity funds have come in below the index returns for each category (the S&P/Citigroup EPAC PMI, S&P/Citigroup World PMI and S&P 500 indices respectively). Equal weighted return differentials for the last 12 months are 2.8%, 0.5% and 1.4% between the aforementioned indices and active managers.

The majority of active funds have also underperformed their respective S&P benchmark over one, three- and five-year periods. In the five-year period, only 13.1%, 11.9%, and 10.3% of international equity, global equity, and U.S. equity funds, respectively, have outperformed the S&P/Citigroup EPAC PMI, S&P/Citigroup World PMI and the S&P 500 benchmarks.