Charles Ellis, a leading figure of the American investment industry, wrote an article titled “The Loser’s Game” in the July 1975 issue of the Financial Analysts Journal. Forty-two years later, the article still makes for compelling reading. It was the first time that the case for so called “passive investing” was made. According to Ellis, the investment management business (he refused to call it a profession), rests on a basic but false belief—that professional managers can beat the market.
