The performance of active equity managers improved substantially in the first half of 2023.

Almost half (44%) of active equity funds outperformed a tracker in the first half, compared to only 27% in 2022.

The sector where the highest percentage of active funds outperformed a passive alternative was Global Emerging Markets with 77%.

Half (49%) of UK equity funds beat the passive offering in the first half of this year, a much better performance than the 13% who outperformed in 2022.

Only a third of active global funds outperformed a tracker.

The longer-term picture is bleaker for active managers, however. Only 28% of active equity funds outperformed a passive comparator over the last 10 years.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said: “Active equity managers fought back in the first half of this year after a dismal 2022 when just over a quarter managed to scrape past a tracker fund. To be honest, things couldn’t have got much worse without testing the laws of statistics. 44% of active managers outperformed a tracker in the first six months of 2023, a substantial improvement to say the least.

“The active versus passive battle is increasingly being won by tracker funds, if the investment industry’s fund flows are anything to go by. Our longer term analysis shines a light on one of the factors driving this trend: only 38% of active equity funds have outperformed a passive comparator over the last ten years, which isn’t exactly a great sales pitch for active funds.”

AJ Bell analysed data from Morningstar with total return in GBP.