--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Active management is little more than a…" description: "\"Active management is little more than a gigantic con game.\" — Ronald Ross" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png" --- # Active management is little more than a gigantic con game. ![“Active management is little more than a gigantic con game.” quote by Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png) > “Active management is little more than a gigantic con game.” [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Management is portrayed as a massive deception, suggesting it lacks genuine value. **In simple terms:** Management is seen as a big con. Key Takeaway Question the true purpose of management. Themes leadership ethics business skepticism Mood skeptical inquisitive Type critical analytical When to use this quote - corporate strategy - team building - consulting practice Key Concepts organizational theory power dynamics value creation Questions to Reflect On - What makes management ethical? - When does it become exploitative? A Different Perspective Not all management is deceptive; many add real value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Active management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active-management/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) ## Related quotes > [I have dabbled in management but I found it a little too all consuming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chesney-hawkes/i-have-dabbled-in-management-but-i-found-it-a-little-too-all-consuming/) [Chesney Hawkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chesney-hawkes/) > [My career in academic research has not been involved with active management of securities. I've tried to understand risk-and-return relationships; also the pricing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myron-scholes/my-career-in-academic-research-has-not-been-involved-with-active/) [Myron Scholes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myron-scholes/) > [Active management leads to lots of poor investor behavior. It sends people chasing after whoever has the hot hand at the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/active-management-leads-to-lots-of-poor-investor-behavior-it-sends/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [... the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/the-best-way-to-own-common-stocks-is-through-an-index-fund/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [Most investors would be better off in an index fund.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lynch/most-investors-would-be-better-off-in-an-index-fund/) [Peter Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lynch/) > [Index investing outperforms active management year after year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rogers/index-investing-outperforms-active-management-year-after-year/) [Jim Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rogers/) > [Properly measured, the average actively managed dollar must underperform the average passively managed dollar, net of costs. Empirical analyses that appear to refute this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/properly-measured-the-average-actively-managed-dollar-must/) William Forsyth Sharpe > [It is very hard, if not impossible," he wrote in his study, "to justify active management for most individual, taxable investors, if their goal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hulbert/it-is-very-hard-if-not-impossible-he-wrote-in-his-study-to-justify/) Mark Hulbert > [Active management strategies demand uninstitutional behavior from institutions, creating a paradox that few can unravel. Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-f-swensen/active-management-strategies-demand-uninstitutional-behavior-from/) [David F. Swensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-f-swensen/) > [Everybody has a different strategy, but everybody agrees that active management does not beat the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/everybody-has-a-different-strategy-but-everybody-agrees-that-active/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Index funds have regularly produced rates of return exceeding those of active managers by close to 2 percentage points. Active management as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burton-malkiel/index-funds-have-regularly-produced-rates-of-return-exceeding-those/) [Burton Malkiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burton-malkiel/) > [I can't figure out why anyone invests in active management, so asking me about hedge funds is just an extreme version of the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/i-can-t-figure-out-why-anyone-invests-in-active-management-so-asking/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [Active management is a zero-sum game before cost, and the winners have to win at the expense of the losers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-fama/active-management-is-a-zero-sum-game-before-cost-and-the-winners-have/) [Eugene Fama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-fama/) > [Get inside information from the president and you will probably lose half of your money. If you get it from the chairman of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rogers/get-inside-information-from-the-president-and-you-will-probably-lose/) [Jim Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rogers/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) ## More by Ronald Ross > [The student of biology is often struck with the feeling that historians, when dealing with the rise and fall of nations, do not generally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/the-student-of-biology-is-often-struck-with-the-feeling-that/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [The World requires at least ten years to understand a new idea, however important or simple it may be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/the-world-requires-at-least-ten-years-to-understand-a-new-idea/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [I have failed in finding parasites in mosquitoes fed on malaria patients, but perhaps I am not using the proper kind of mosquito.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/i-have-failed-in-finding-parasites-in-mosquitoes-fed-on-malaria/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [This day relenting God Hath placed within my hand A wondrous thing; and God Be praised. At His command, Seeking His secret deeds With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/this-day-relenting-god-hath-placed-within-my-hand-a-wondrous-thing/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [The Panama Canal was dug with a microscope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/the-panama-canal-was-dug-with-a-microscope/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [“I know this little thing a myriad of men will save. Oh, death, where is thy sting, Thy victory, oh grave?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/i-know-this-little-thing-a-myriad-of-men-will-save-oh-death-where-is/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [Well do I remember that dark hot little office in the hospital at Begumpett, with the necessary gleam of light coming in from under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/well-do-i-remember-that-dark-hot-little-office-in-the-hospital-at/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [The belief is growing on me that the disease is communicated by the bite of the mosquito. ... She always injects a small quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/the-belief-is-growing-on-me-that-the-disease-is-communicated-by-the/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [On some peculiar pigmented cells found in two mosquitoes fed on malarial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/on-some-peculiar-pigmented-cells-found-in-two-mosquitoes-fed-on/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [Science is the Differential Calculus of the mind. Art the Integral Calculus; they may be beautiful when apart, but are greatest only when combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/science-is-the-differential-calculus-of-the-mind-art-the-integral/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [Lately, however, on abandoning the brindled and grey mosquitos and commencing similar work on a new, brown species, of which I have as yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/lately-however-on-abandoning-the-brindled-and-grey-mosquitos-and/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [Wall Street's favorite scam is pretending that luck is skill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/wall-street-s-favorite-scam-is-pretending-that-luck-is-skill/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) > [The work ... was ... so blinding that I could scarcely see afterwards, and the difficulty was increased by the fact that my microscope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/the-work-was-so-blinding-that-i-could-scarcely-see-afterwards-and-the/) [Ronald Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) [Explore all 14 Ronald Ross quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/) ## More Active quotes > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/) [Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/) [Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/) > [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/) [Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/) > [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/) [Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/) Browse all 2,212 Active quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Active management is little more than a gigantic con game.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ronald Ross" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/active-management-is-little-more-than-a-gigantic-con-game/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Active" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/active-management-is-little-more-than-a-gigantic-con-game/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/ronald-ross-34752_active_active-management-is-little-more-than-a_1315695.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Active management is little more than a gigantic con game.” — Ronald Ross", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ronald Ross", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-ross/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Active management is little more than...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/active-management-is-little-more-than-a-gigantic-con-game/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-ross/active-management-is-little-more-than-a-gigantic-con-game/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```