Mark Northway: Has the passives industry become its own worst enemy?

A battle on fees, a war on price or a campaign against charges - whichever way it is framed, the debate about passive funds and price is often far more superficial than it deserves to be. The age-old debate rages on - active managers claim that stock picking expertise, which they suggest leads to outperformance, warrants higher charges; the passive world says it can deliver commensurate returns at a fraction of the cost.  But the passive industry may have become its own worst enemy in debating price on the investment battlefield, often using price as an overly simplistic differentiato...