GlossaryActively managed fundActive management

Active fund

An active fund is one whose manager selects holdings at their own discretion, aiming to outperform or manage risk against a benchmark rather than replicate it.

Definition

An active fund is managed by a person or team who decide which securities to hold, in what weights and when to trade, based on research and judgement. It contrasts with an index fund, which follows a published index mechanically. Most active UCITS funds still name a benchmark in their documents, either as a target to beat or as a reference for comparison, and European rules require them to say which.

Why it matters

Active management is the main reason two funds in the same category can hold very different portfolios and charge different fees. Ongoing charges for active funds are generally higher than for index funds, and returns can diverge widely from the benchmark in both directions. Analysts therefore look at holdings, concentration, sector tilts and the fund's stated objective rather than the category label alone.

In the API

The response classifies the fund in profile.kind, names the reference index in benchmarkName, and exposes cost and holdings data alongside. Example values:

json
{
  "profile": { "kind": "active", "concentration": "high" },
  "benchmarkName": "MSCI World Index (Net Return)",
  "headlineMetrics": { "ter": 1.65 },
  "topHoldings": [{ "name": "Example Corp", "weight": 6.2 }]
}

calendarReturns.fund and calendarReturns.benchmark let you compute year-by-year relative performance without further lookups.

Common pitfalls

A named benchmark does not mean the fund is managed close to it; a global equity fund may reference MSCI World while holding 30 stocks. Check profile.concentration and topHoldings before assuming benchmark-like behaviour. Read investmentObjective to see whether the benchmark is a target or merely a comparator.