Are fund managers overrated? Finfluencer cites 10-year failure rate across categories
Shrivastava argues this pattern undercuts the active management model promoted to Indian retail investors, where fund managers claim professional insight justifies their fees.
- Aug 19, 2025,
- Updated Aug 19, 2025 11:15 AM IST
A widely followed finance creator is questioning how mutual fund managers define “expertise”—and he’s backing it up with a decade of performance data.
In a recent post on X, Wisdom Hatch founder and financial influencer Akshat Shrivastava took aim at India’s mutual fund industry, highlighting how most fund managers failed to outperform their benchmarks over the last 10 years.
“It is funny that fund managers call themselves ‘experts’ and convince retail investors they can’t manage their own money,” Shrivastava wrote. “If you were in the bottom 25% of your job, you'd be fired. But fund managers collect commissions for telling stories.”
He shared official data from the 10-year period ending December 2024 showing widespread underperformance across categories:
- Indian Equity Large-Cap Funds: 74% failed to beat their benchmark
- Mid-/Small-Cap Funds: 88% underperformed
- ELSS Funds: 84% lagged
- Composite Bond Funds: 98.5% fell short
- Government Bond Funds: 82.4% underdelivered
Shrivastava argues this pattern undercuts the active management model promoted to Indian retail investors, where fund managers claim professional insight justifies their fees. He questions why such persistent underperformance is tolerated while investors are urged to rely on industry advice.
His post adds to ongoing public debate over the value of active fund management versus passive investing.
A widely followed finance creator is questioning how mutual fund managers define “expertise”—and he’s backing it up with a decade of performance data.
In a recent post on X, Wisdom Hatch founder and financial influencer Akshat Shrivastava took aim at India’s mutual fund industry, highlighting how most fund managers failed to outperform their benchmarks over the last 10 years.
“It is funny that fund managers call themselves ‘experts’ and convince retail investors they can’t manage their own money,” Shrivastava wrote. “If you were in the bottom 25% of your job, you'd be fired. But fund managers collect commissions for telling stories.”
He shared official data from the 10-year period ending December 2024 showing widespread underperformance across categories:
- Indian Equity Large-Cap Funds: 74% failed to beat their benchmark
- Mid-/Small-Cap Funds: 88% underperformed
- ELSS Funds: 84% lagged
- Composite Bond Funds: 98.5% fell short
- Government Bond Funds: 82.4% underdelivered
Shrivastava argues this pattern undercuts the active management model promoted to Indian retail investors, where fund managers claim professional insight justifies their fees. He questions why such persistent underperformance is tolerated while investors are urged to rely on industry advice.
His post adds to ongoing public debate over the value of active fund management versus passive investing.