Tesla’s S&P 500 Entry Takes Away Secret Weapon for Stock Pickers
- Majority of Tesla-owning funds have beaten the S&P 500 in 2020
- Company’s addition makes it harder for managers to get an edge
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg
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The celebration that has greeted Tesla Inc.’s addition to the S&P 500 has the potential to leave one of its constituencies cold: star managers who have ridden the electric-car maker’s ascent to superior returns.
Not many of the 215 active managers with at least $500 million in assets whose funds are indexed to the equity gauge have ventured to invest in Tesla. But the 21 who have are richer for the move. Almost 80% of them have beaten the benchmark this year with an average gain of 24%. Compare that to the 194 who didn’t take the plunge. Only 28% are ahead of the index, with a smaller gain of 13%.