Do any ETFs try to beat the market?
Quite a few fundamental (or intelligent, semi-active) try to beat an index by tweaking its definition. But the result is still a methodical index. This is the subjective, bottom-up stock picking that most ‘active’ mutual fund managers engage in. A few attempts have been made to create an ETF which allows subjective stock picking. But ETF investors tend to be skeptical of expensive stock picking managers. While no doubt some managers are better than others at stock picking, in practice it is difficult to tell the talented from the merely lucky. And high fees eat into performance quickly.
