It seems plausible. Lack of research means inefficient pricing and lots of opportunities to find bargains. Even better, these markets are full of less skilled investors waiting to have their pockets picked. All of which means more alpha lying around just waiting to be collected.

Conveniently, this is a pretty easy idea to test. Where are the most inefficient markets? Mid Cap Equities, Small Cap Equities and Emerging Market Equities would seem to be obvious candidates. The 2023 US SPIVA (S&P Index vs Active) data shows the percentage of managers that ...