How do you justify active management?

Put pods aside because they are market neutral. but serious question. SPY and QQQ go up 20-30% a year with no risk, high sharpe ratio, with huge exposure to themes like AI/Magnificent 7/Nvidia/Smci which go up 50-200% (lol) a year. 

meanwhile individual stocks are very volatile, go up and down 5-10% a week with earnings/valuation risk (e.g. stocks -30% on earnings). even many stocks that beat they go down because rates are moving up, which the AI stocks are immune to because of their high cash balance and AI helps productivity. 

How does an active manager justify its existence picking "growth/value" or "quality" stocks when the average retail investor can get way better returns outside of it? 

I am referring not just to LO/SM HF, but also to PE - none of these PE firms have returns close to the QQQ and way less exposure to AI. 

would argue NOT investing in Nvidia, or the index today is "risky" because it is sucking liquidity from other parts of the system, so you are underperforming twice (not invested in nvidia, then your assets are deprecating because nvidia is taking economics from it)

22 Comments
 

Obviously it makes it harder for funds (market neutral ones included) to get money when risk free is at 5% and equity rally 20%+

However, in your sentences "no risk" and "high Sharpe" are false
2022 was the most recent down year, equity drawdowns are very frequent and can be massive.
Compute yourself the S&P500 Sharpe and you will see that it is under 1, so it is not a good Sharpe.


You also forget that retail are not the main investors in funds, either long only or HF and even less in PE.
Investors are pension funds, sovereign funds, and they have already S&P/Nasdaq ETFs don't worry for them. They will simply never put 100% on this so to diversify they invest elsewhere too.

 
Most Helpful

You've really been upping your trolling efforts. From "PE has no volatility and the earnings are super stable", to the "investment principles" which was just momentum chasing and a quote or two from the OG stock market wizards book... to this post. 

But you are def right - you should quit finance altogether, and lever 100p of your PA into NVDA call options. Doesn't make sense to spend time doing much else. QQQ, while 100p risk free, will make you underperform twice, as you miss the opportunity to invest everything into NVDA. I know you said you were worried about single stock volatility, but NVDA has a high cash balance and benefits from AI's productivity, so even if rates go up or the economy takes a turn, the returns should still be pretty rock solid. PE returns, despite being super stable, will miss out because they can't invest in NVDA. 

If things turn though, just remember, losers average losers. 


 

 
longshortequity

not trolling. the investment principles have been 100% correct - look at how NVDA etc have done recently compared to all these small caps that are "cheap" lol. I'm just telling it like it is - easier to follow narrative/momentum than to fight trend with some random turnaround stock that HFs love

lol I've seen ppl like this before. Anyone who talks like this will eventually be humbled by the market. Probably young and has not seen enough drawdowns in their days. Not a matter of if, it's when. "“When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience.”

 

Market neutral funds that hedge with Nasdaq or S&P500 by definition beat the markets. If I buy x stock and sell NQ/ES against it then my fund is only profitable if I by definition beat the market.

Sure you may want that long/naked exposure to Nasdaq, but the people who lost 90% of their “risk free” Nasdaq investment during the dot com bubble burst would probably prefer some active manager who doesn’t have exposure to the broad market and prefer a market neutral strategy that will make money regardless whether the market is up or down.

 

LPs have money and they objectively have to invest it somewhere. HFs provide returns on lower volatility than SPX so they are able to better match expenses. For instance think of a college Endowment, if they are 100% invested in SPX and it goes down 50% again, they would have to make massive layoffs to teachers and administrators.

Also if you are able to find the right manager you can make exponentially better returns, a 15% return in 30 years is 3x a 10% return annualized

 

SPY and QQQ go up 20-30% a year with no risk

This is just insanely incorrect it's not even funny.

[mixed up the name for ProShares UltraPro QQQ w/ the ticker TQQQ, but neither of these ETFs are risk free]

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

You're correct and I'm wrong, I was thinking of the name - ProShares UltraPro QQQ - and got the ticker mixed up. TQQQ is the leveraged one. QQQ is still hardly "risk free" and it's more concentrated than SPY.

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Another week and you're bumping again because you're a coward and didn't full port into NVDA 0DTE options... in frustration, you felt it necessary to "prove" something on anon message board? Congratulations

The beauty of the markets (+ careers + life in general) is that you can do anything you want. For this specific part of life, making money is the goal. If you find a way to end up richer than the rest, great. "Proving" your work added value is a futile endeavor. This industry is already built on middle men. Go ahead and rip out your hair over whether Fidelity or Wellington's active funds are worth the expense ratio... meanwhile the tenured PMs are sipping beers in Nantucket. Its all a game... and its always been this way.  WGAF. 

So either go full passive into TQQQ for the next 10 years, or STFU

 

Eos sunt eos aut nobis et. Omnis qui molestiae dolores aliquam iusto eaque. Perspiciatis voluptatem rerum qui itaque.

Rerum doloremque explicabo minima voluptas. Hic nobis qui quam non eaque ullam voluptas qui. Accusamus omnis dolores aspernatur.

 

Voluptas dicta qui fugiat natus minima dignissimos. A eum magni architecto asperiores. Aut beatae vel fugiat voluptatibus eos magnam.

Qui eos tempora quo qui rerum. Optio et quis et accusantium distinctio nostrum quod. Nihil alias eaque repellat omnis. Veniam ullam consectetur sint earum est quasi. Voluptatum repellendus aliquid deserunt accusamus id consectetur excepturi. Provident eveniet ut ut in nam omnis praesentium.

Animi sint expedita et nam consequuntur in velit. Pariatur veniam sapiente consequatur exercitationem. Et mollitia quia quia autem quo officia. Modi velit aut quidem tempora eos inventore dignissimos. Aut voluptas fuga enim. Iusto sapiente nihil ipsam eum.

Illo omnis pariatur alias maiores cum debitis illum et. Repellendus porro dolores ab id neque. Voluptas quisquam quo est ullam quis et. Animi quas accusantium quis in dolore maiores.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • Millennium Partners 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Blackstone Group 96.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.1%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.2%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.3%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (240) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (28) $146
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”