09 Mar 2026
Disorder – A field day for active management
In a bull market, “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and passive indexing often outperforms because it captures the momentum of the largest players. However, when a change comes, the market shifts from correlation (everything moving together) to dispersion (wide gaps between winners and losers).
In February, dispersion of returns continued. There were large differences between asset class returns, index returns, and security returns. Now that the market is being disrupted by a War and SaaS-pocalypse, the onceloved S&P 500® Index, with its overly concentrated positions in technology stocks, is not only underperforming; it appears downright risky. This leaves strategic and index investors’ hands tied, with no way to reach for true diversification, adjust for risk, or simply avoid pitfalls. They are quite literally floating with markets – fun on the way up, terrifying on the way down. Today’s investors may deserve more, and they may soon demand that managers act on their behalf.
At Frontier, we are not forced to hold indexes or quasi-index proprietary funds, nor do we have to maintain constant allocations; we are free to choose. We are free to adjust our allocations across asset classes, selectively choose mutual funds and ETFs, modify overall risk exposures, and take advantage of market disruptions. This month, we would like to highlight a hidden, much-forgotten point of added value – actively managed mutual funds.
Read more in the March Monthly Briefing.
Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. An investment in this strategy involves the risk of loss, including principal, as well as the potential for gain. There can be no assurance that any Frontier strategy will achieve its objectives or avoid substantial losses. Before investing consider the investment objectives, fees and expenses. Please see additional disclosures in the “Important Disclosure Information”. Performance shown represents total returns that include income, realized and unrealized gains and losses. The Frontier performance shown above are composites of accounts actually managed by Frontier and are shown gross of an advisory fee, which includes the Frontier and financial advisor investment advisory fees, and net of a max 3% advisory fee. Performance in the Balanced, Moderate Growth and Long-Term Growth strategies includes predecessor performance. Benchmarks shown are Frontier’s custom benchmarks. Benchmark composition can be viewed here:https://frontierasset.com/frontier-benchmark-composition-asset-class-detail/
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