Specialists vs Generalists Specialists usually perform better than generalists. For example, the individual event champions in the Olympics’ athletics competitions typically perform better than the decathlon champion in every event. This is illustrated in the following graphic, which shows the percentage by which the specialists outperformed the champion decathlete in each event in the most recent Olympics. The same is true in investment management. Some managers have specialist skills in UK equities, while others are better at investing in America or Asia, or fixed interest securities. Some managers focus on growth stocks, while others specialise in investing in smaller companies. Russell Investments' research indicates that no organisation excels in every discipline. We believe that investing with a team of specialists will produce better performance over the long term than investing with just a single manager.

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