Alexander Ineichen B. G., Opalesque Geneva:
In 2008, Warren Buffett issued a challenge to the hedge fund industry, which he thought charged exorbitant fees that the funds' performances could not justify. Protégé Partners LLC accepted, and the two parties placed a million-dollar bet. According to Investopedia, Buffett's ultimately successful argument was that, including fees, costs and expenses, an S&P 500 index fund would outperform a hand-picked portfolio of hedge funds over 10 years. The bet pit, in effect, the passive and active investing philosophies against each other.
"Buffett won the bet, even when you adjusted for the volatility," says Swiss-based analyst and author Alexander Ineichen, who in a 9th March webinar will reveal further results of the bet assuming they had done it from 2018 onwards when the S&P500 has been very difficult to beat.