It may have taken 18 months, but active asset managers are now doing what they are paid for – beating the market, even if they are still losing money. For the first quarter since the financial crisis began, active managers investing in global equities have beaten their index, according to figures published last week by performance measurer BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

The median global equities manager lost money for its clients in the first quarter, with a return of -9.2% net of fees, but it beat its benchmark by a percentage point: the FTSE All World index lost 10.2%.