Low-cost index-tracking funds have beaten their more expensive active peers in 47 of 49 categories over the past decade, according to new research from Morningstar that adds new weight to longstanding complaints that fund managers do not outperform the market on average.

Morningstar’s research, which looked at 9,400 active and passive mutual funds in Europe, in which around €2.9tn is invested, also found that fewer than a quarter of active managers beat the index over 10 years, in more than half of the categories surveyed.