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And yet, the index itself (not even the funds) reliably beats the overwhelming majority of active traders over almost any time window you care to look at.

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That is typically due to low fees though, and not something that is inherently due to it being an index.

Hint: The people constructing the index are doing as much of an active choice of stocks as the active traders are. Nothing stops a trader from selecting stocks following the same strategies as how an index is selected.

The majority, sure, but not all. Look at since-inception charts of POGRX, VHT, and BRK.B for example.

However, for a lazy or casual investor discovering the difference between the good managers and the lucky managers is very hard.

Eh, just compare the active fund against the S&P 500 on a suitably long enough horizon:

https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSEARCA%3ASPY%2C+NYSEARCA%...

I'll admit it's looking for a needle in haystack though. In all my looking I've only found these three. Really just VHT and POGRX, since the success of BRK (Warren Buffett's company) is common knowledge.

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