An investment strategy in which a professional money manager chooses the investments to buy or sell, with the goal of producing above-average returns. Active managers devote significant effort to research and analyze securities, and they typically trade them more often than they would if they used a buy-and-hold approach. As a result, actively managed funds typically charge higher fees than index funds. Studies consistently show that most active funds fail to meet their goal, generating below-average returns – and incurring higher risks and fees in the process. See Beating the Market, Index Investing, Passive Management, SPIVA Scorecard