Based on the chart in the article , over the last 5 years they ' ve compounded 5 . 5 % net of fees although showing index prices rather than total returns is shamefully bad financial journalism . By contrast , emerging markets the fund benchmark , which should roughly be the investment universe from which they pick stocks have fallen run flat over the span . Which means that as an investor you would ' ve gotten a pretty solid deal , assuming you wanted emerging markets exposure . On a goforward basis it ' s worth considering your decision to allocate to emerging markets given the post election political environment , whether you trust this management team ' s process , and whether you think more assets will dilute that process only $ 50 mm aum is tiny and flows often chase performance so that may change . Yes , passive products are frequently better for you as the consumer , but there are tons of exceptions to that rule , and at least on a backward looking basis this is one of them .