[Ep. 370] The Case for Passive vs. Active Investing with Anu Ganti and Joseph Nelesen

“A common misconception was that indexing was settling for average. But the history and SPIVA data have clearly shown that that is not the case.”
– Anu Ganti, Senior Director for Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices

As we know, I’m a huge advocate for index investing and today on the More Money Podcast I have two guests who are sharing their expertise on the subject including some of the pitfalls of investing in actively managed funds. Anu Ganti and Joseph Nelesen, both Senior Directors of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, are joining me today and I’m telling you, this episode is chock-full of valuable investing info!

Anu is a CFA charterholder and holds her MBA in finance and economics from Columbia Business School, as well as her bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business. She is often sharing her expertise with both print and broadcast media outlets and helps lead the index investment strategy team in providing research and commentary on the entire S&P DJI product set, including U.S. and global equities, thematics, commodities, fixed income and sustainability indices. Prior to joining the team, Anu worked in the asset management space, completing a post-MBA rotational program at Russell Investments within their fixed-income research and trading divisions and also worked as a portfolio manager focusing on emerging market equities at Parametric Portfolio Associates (subsidiary of Eaton Vance).

Joseph holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, an MBA from the Kenan Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of California at San Diego. He also helps lead the index investment strategy team, but prior to working at S&P DJI he headed iShares Institutional Factors Strategy at Blackrock and held roles in exchange-traded product research and development. Joseph also previously worked in mergers and acquisitions and corporate investment banking with Citigroup and Bear, Stearns & Co.

In this episode, Joseph and Anu challenge the myth that indexing only yields average investment returns and share how SPIVA measures actively managed funds against their index benchmarks worldwide using the data and insights they’ve gained over the past 20 years. This episode is full of some great information and will definitely be perfect for anyone wanting to understand why index investing is a tried and true long-term investment strategy.

Things I Mentioned in the Episode

Learn more about what SPIVA is and what they’ve done these past 20 years: What is Spiva?, The Impact of Spiva over 20 years, Passive Investment Spiva Webinar
Jessica’s Instagram & YouTube channel, Tiktok
Want to be interviewed by me for my book? Visit jessicamoorhouse.com/interview
I’m giving away copies of all the books featured in this season of the podcast! To enter, visit jessicamoorhouse.com/contests
My free resource library, where you can find budget spreadsheets & more!
Apply to enroll in my investing course Wealth Building Blueprint for Canadians
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