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In the past couple of decades, index-style investing has become the strategy of choice for millions of investors who are satisfied by duplicating market returns instead of trying to beat them. Research by Wharton faculty and others has shown that, in many cases, “active” investment managers are not able to pick enough winners to justify their high fees.

But does active investing become more appealing for high-net-worth investors, who have opportunities that small investors do not?

While actively managed assets can play an important role in a diverse portfolio, Wharton faculty involved in the program say that even large investors often do best using passive investments for the bulk of their holdings. Active investing, they say, can nonetheless be useful with certain portions of the portfolio, such as those invested in illiquid or little known securities, or holdings tailored to a specific purpose such as minimizing losses in a down market.