Episode 405: Timothy Edwards - Inside S&P DJ Indices
The Rational Reminder Podcast · 2026-04-16 · 1h 4m
Episode notes
What if the decades-long debate between active and passive investing wasn't really a debate - but a data problem? In this episode, Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore are joined by Tim Edwards, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, for a deep dive into the SPIVA Scorecard - the industry's most enduring and data-driven comparison of active versus passive investing. Tim explains how SPIVA has evolved over 25 years, why survivorship bias matters more than most investors realize, and what the data consistently shows across markets: most active funds underperform their benchmarks - especially over longer time horizons. The conversation goes beyond the headline results, exploring persistence (or lack thereof) in manager performance, why bond funds don't escape the same fate, and whether combining active funds improves outcomes (spoiler: not really). They also tackle common critiques of indexing, including index rebalancing costs, IPO inclusion concerns, and the role of index funds in market concentration. Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:17) Introduction to the SPIVA report and its long-standing role in the indexing vs.