The common narrative that passive investing will overtake active management suggests a primarily passive future for investors. However, an analysis of fund AUM data across time and regions offers a starkly different perspective on the future of investment management. 

Contrary to popular belief, active management continues to dominate passive investing as measured by worldwide assets under management (AUM). Even though index fund AUM has seen a 1,500-fold increase from 1989, it still only represented 32% of all fund AUM by the end 2021. Assertions about the dominance of passive investing are largely based upon a few exceptions – most notably for equity funds in the US Large Cap Blend category, where index funds contain three times as much AUM as their active counterparts. In other regions and across asset classes, index funds are not nearly as prevalent. Generalizations based on US Large Cap Blend equity funds are misleading.