Like many, I prefer index funds over actively managed mutual funds for long-term investing. And once again the evidence supports this position:

Active fund managers trailing index benchmarks: S&P

As the article states, most actively managed funds failed to beat their benchmarks, which means, of course, that some did. The problem is that there will always be some that manage to beat their benchmarks. That doesn’t somehow validate the actively managed fund industry, but you can be sure that those fund managers lucky enough to beat the market will certainly beat their chests in a display of their alleged brilliance.

You can go to Las Vegas and put $100 on red on the roulette wheel (completely disregarding Wesley Snipes’ advice, but that’s another story) and you might win once. You might do it again and you could even win again, and again, etc. But that doesn’t mean you have the talent to be a professional roulette player. So don’t quit that day job quite yet, and don’t go seeking out the next hottest mutual fund guaranteed to make you riches.