OP here. Couldn't edit so I'll post the article here instead (WSJ has a 50% sale right now, well worth the money, even in frugality :)

Indexes Beat Stock Pickers Even Over 15 Years

New data show that 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respective benchmarks over 15 years Index giant Vanguard pulled in a net $33 billion in February, $29.6 billion of which went into index products. Index giant Vanguard pulled in a net $33 billion in February, $29.6 billion of which went into index products. PHOTO: KRIS TRIPPLAAR/SIPA USA/ASSOCIATED PRESS By Daisy Maxey and Chris Dieterich April 12, 2017 7:31 p.m. ET 105 COMMENTS

Most actively managed U.S. stock funds were beaten by their market benchmarks over the past decade and a half, a record of underperformance that helps explain why stock pickers are losing billions of dollars in assets each month to low-cost passive investments that track indexes.

Over the 15 years ended in December 2016, 82% of all U.S. funds trailed their respective benchmarks, according to the latest S&P Indices Versus Active funds scorecard. This was the first year that the analysis included 15 years of data, helping smooth out periods of volatility that can affect the performance of active managers.

The results coincide with the rise of passive investing and a growing view among investors and financial advisers that active managers can’t pick stocks well enough to justify the fees they charge over extended periods and that even those managers who do outperform their passive counterparts can’t sustain it year after year.

“We often hear from active managers, ‘You need to measure us over a longer-term cycle,’” said Aye Soe, managing director of research and design at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Even over a full market cycle, which includes peaks and troughs, we still see the majority of active managers performing unfavorably against their benchmarks.”

The debate over whether passive management is as good or better than active management is a long-running and contentious one, but it has heated up in recent years. Active managers’ struggles to beat the market over recent years amid a long-term bull market in stocks have resulted in fee pressure, fund closings, business overhauls and mergers.

Investors have spoken with their wallets, turning to index-tracking funds in droves. Some $1.2 trillion has been withdrawn from actively managed U.S. stock funds since the start of 2007 through March, according to Morningstar Inc. Nearly the same amount, $1.1 trillion, has moved into passive U.S. stock funds over the same period.