Laith Khalaf: Trump makes (some) active funds great again

2025 has been a pretty good year so far for active fund managers, according to AJ Bell's latest Manager versus Machine report, which analyses over 1,000 funds across seven key equity sectors. The report shows that 42% of active managers have outperformed a passive alternative so far in 2025. That may not sound like a lot, but it's better than the 35% who managed the same feat in the first half of 2024, and is nudging up towards the 50% figure which might be considered a reasonable result in normal conditions. Active funds in the Global sector have had a particularly bright spell by...