The fight against closet index funds: Regulation made things worse
Petter Bjerksund, Trond Døskeland, Andre Wattø Sjuve and Andreas Ørpetveit: What happens when funds are pressured to become more active, but lack good investment ideas? The fight against closet index funds resulted in lower returns for customers.
Our research suggests that lower fees are better for customers. If the funds had halved their fees instead of increasing activity, the net return would have been higher, Petter Bjerksund, Trond Døskeland, Andre Wattø Sjuve og Andreas Ørpetveit write.
Their feature article Kampen mot skapindeksfond: Regulering gjorde vondt verre (in Norwegian) was published in Dagens Næringsliv on 18 September, 2025.