Passive Investing
Passive investing aims to replicate market index performance rather than beat it, minimizing costs, turnover, and active decision-making.
Concept map
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Definition
Passive investing aims to replicate market index performance rather than beat it, minimizing costs, turnover, and active decision-making.
Use case
Used in investment strategy workflows, analysis, and technical interviews.
Judgment check
Useful only when the assumptions and inputs behind the metric are understood.
Deep dive
How to think about Passive Investing
Championed by Jack Bogle (Vanguard), passive investing gained dominance due to the difficulty of consistent alpha generation after fees. Index funds and ETFs provide broad diversification at minimal cost (expense ratios often <0.10%). Passive strategies now hold more assets than active in the US.
Example: An S&P 500 index fund holds all 500 stocks in proportion to their market caps, replicating the index's return at ~0.03% expense ratio. Over 20 years, this often outperforms 70-90% of active managers charging 1%+ fees.