The assets of French management companies exceeded 5,000 billion euros at the end of 2025, a historic record according to the French Association of Financial Management. Millions of savers trust professional managers to make their money grow, often without knowing what it really costs them. The promise is simple: in exchange for higher fees than a simple ETF, the manager selects stocks and does better than the market. But this promise is not always kept, especially when taking into account all the costs.
Andrea Tueni, market expert at Saxo, distinguishes between several types of costs: “When you invest in a UCITS via a bank or bank life insurance, the costs can pile up. You have brokerage fees on purchase, fund management fees, sometimes performance fees, entry fees, exit fees, and fees on the envelope itself. We can quickly end up with a considerable heaviness. » The broker also has a legal obligation to display all of these fees, in net value and in percentage.
The indicator that points to fake active funds
So, the first instinct to have is to free yourself from unnecessary costs, such as entry fees, which weigh down the investment before it has even started. It is then that we can compare the management costs. Because, taken in the long term, the cost gap is considerable. A basic World ETF charges between 0.15 and 0.25% in annual management fees. A comparable active fund is around 1.4% on average according to the AMF, with some specialized funds exceeding 2%. A difference of 1.5% doesn’t seem like much… But in the long term, it has the opposite snowball effect. This additional cost is only justified if the fund beats its index reference.
However, according to the white paper “Active management, a lever for outperformance” published on April 22, 2026 by seven independent French management companies (BDL Capital Management, Carmignac, CIAM, Comgest, Edmond de Rothschild AM, IVO Capital Partners and Moneta Asset Management), a portion of the funds sold as “active” simply stick to their index, while charging the price of active management.
Since 2009, there has been an indicator that has become standard in the industry: Active Share. It measures the percentage of a fund’s portfolio that deviates from its benchmark. If it is 0%, the fund replicates the index identically. 100%, he has no position in common with him. The thresholds to remember are 71% (below, the chances of outperformance drop significantly) and 80% (above, the funds beat their index on average). Below 60%, the AMF itself speaks of disguised passive management.
Documents to consult before investing
Be careful though, the high Active Share is not a guarantee, it must be cross-referenced with other indices, such as actual performance over several years. Andrea Tueni lists the documents to systematically consult before investing, in particular the DICI (Key Investor Information Document): it presents the total costs, past performance over several years (1 year, 3 years, 10 years, and since the beginning) as well as the level of risk on a scale of 1 to 7. This is also where the total annual cost of the fund.
“There is also the prospectus, which goes further and explains all the rationale behind the fund, the investment strategy and the constraints of the manager”adds the expert. This paper explains in particular whether the fund can really move away from its index, or if it is contractually required to stay close.
Active ETFs, a third way?
Today there is an intermediate option between the passive ETF and the classic active fund: active ETFs. Almost all major emitters have started doing so. The aim is to combine the continuous listing and low transaction costs of an ETF with stock selection carried out by a manager. They are easily identified with the word “Active” in their name. Their fees are around 0.4 to 0.7% per year; an in-between.
“All ETF providers have moved into active ETFs to compete with active management. It is clearly a competitor to management companies”underlines Andrea Tueni. For an saver who wants to move away from completely passive management without paying for fees, they can be considered.
