Key Takeaways
- • Top-quartile Canadian active funds still failed to beat their benchmarks in five of seven fund categories over the six months to June 30, 2026, according to the mid-year 2026 S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) Canada Scorecard published by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- • An average of 80% of active funds across the seven categories underperformed in the first half of 2026, and every International Equity fund trailed the S&P EPAC LargeMidCap, which returned 20.8% in Canadian dollars.
- • Bottom-quartile funds trailed their benchmarks by an average of 7.3%, with shortfalls of 12.8% in International Equity and 10.7% in Canadian Focused Equity.
- • Over 10 years, underperformance reached 100% in both Canadian Focused Equity and International Equity, and 98.8% in Canadian Equity, while 43.9% of Canadian Equity funds failed to survive the period.
- • Energy beat the S&P/TSX Composite by 12.5% while Information Technology trailed it by 28.7%, the widest sector spread among 11 GICS sectors.
Summary
Funds at the top-quartile threshold still fell short of their benchmarks in five of seven Canadian fund categories over the six months to June 30, 2026, while funds at the bottom-quartile threshold trailed by an average of 7.3%, according to the mid-year 2026 S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) Canada Scorecard published by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. The scorecard measures Canadian actively managed retail mutual funds and exchange-traded funds against category benchmarks, using return data from Fundata Canada.
An average of 80% of active funds across the seven categories underperformed in the first half of 2026. International Equity recorded a full sweep, with every fund trailing the S&P EPAC LargeMidCap, which rose 20.8% in Canadian dollars. Bottom-quartile shortfalls reached 10.7% in Canadian Focused Equity and 12.8% in International Equity. In Canadian equity categories, 87% of Canadian Equity funds underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which returned 11.2%, while 85.7% of Canadian Focused Equity and 81.6% of Canadian Dividend & Income Equity funds also lagged. US Equity funds underperformed at 79% against an S&P 500 gain of 14.1% in Canadian dollars, Global Equity at 69.2%, and Canadian Small-/Mid-Cap Equity posted the lowest rate at 57.1%.
Over a 10-year horizon, the scorecard recorded underperformance of 100% in both Canadian Focused Equity and International Equity, 98.8% in Canadian Equity, 98.3% in Global Equity, 96.9% in Canadian Dividend & Income Equity, 94.3% in US Equity, and 88.1% in Canadian Small-/Mid-Cap Equity. On a risk-adjusted basis over the same period, US Equity and International Equity both reached 100%. Merger or liquidation rates ran in single digits across all categories during the six-month period, while over the 10-year window 43.9% of Canadian Equity funds failed to survive and 37.5% disappeared across all categories.
At the sector level, Energy beat the S&P/TSX Composite by 12.5% and Information Technology trailed it by 28.7%, the extremes among 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors. Only Energy, Financials and Utilities outperformed the broad Canadian benchmark. Within the S&P 500, five sectors outperformed, with Industrials leading by 10.3% and Financials lagging by 11.8%.
The scorecard uses the opportunity set available at the start of each period as its denominator to correct for survivorship bias. It excludes pooled funds, segregated funds and other vehicles that do not qualify as retail mutual funds, as well as index, leveraged and inverse products. Fund returns are net of fees and exclude loads, index returns carry no deduction for fund expenses, and all index returns are total returns in Canadian dollars.
An average of 80% of active funds across the seven categories underperformed in the first half of 2026. International Equity recorded a full sweep, with every fund trailing the S&P EPAC LargeMidCap, which rose 20.8% in Canadian dollars. Bottom-quartile shortfalls reached 10.7% in Canadian Focused Equity and 12.8% in International Equity. In Canadian equity categories, 87% of Canadian Equity funds underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which returned 11.2%, while 85.7% of Canadian Focused Equity and 81.6% of Canadian Dividend & Income Equity funds also lagged. US Equity funds underperformed at 79% against an S&P 500 gain of 14.1% in Canadian dollars, Global Equity at 69.2%, and Canadian Small-/Mid-Cap Equity posted the lowest rate at 57.1%.
Over a 10-year horizon, the scorecard recorded underperformance of 100% in both Canadian Focused Equity and International Equity, 98.8% in Canadian Equity, 98.3% in Global Equity, 96.9% in Canadian Dividend & Income Equity, 94.3% in US Equity, and 88.1% in Canadian Small-/Mid-Cap Equity. On a risk-adjusted basis over the same period, US Equity and International Equity both reached 100%. Merger or liquidation rates ran in single digits across all categories during the six-month period, while over the 10-year window 43.9% of Canadian Equity funds failed to survive and 37.5% disappeared across all categories.
At the sector level, Energy beat the S&P/TSX Composite by 12.5% and Information Technology trailed it by 28.7%, the extremes among 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors. Only Energy, Financials and Utilities outperformed the broad Canadian benchmark. Within the S&P 500, five sectors outperformed, with Industrials leading by 10.3% and Financials lagging by 11.8%.
The scorecard uses the opportunity set available at the start of each period as its denominator to correct for survivorship bias. It excludes pooled funds, segregated funds and other vehicles that do not qualify as retail mutual funds, as well as index, leveraged and inverse products. Fund returns are net of fees and exclude loads, index returns carry no deduction for fund expenses, and all index returns are total returns in Canadian dollars.
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