Is he a closet indexer, a crapshooter or an agile player trying to dope out the business cycle?

FORBES: The Wal-Mart of mutual funds

Malkiel: Well, look, as an indexer, I probably, to be consistent, should tell you, you just put it in depending upon where the capitalization is.

FORBES: Intelligent Investing Briefing Book

Hi, my name is Rick and I am an indexer.

FORBES: Why I Index by Rick Ferri

Savvy investors should look at fund expenses, historical portfolio turnover and sector weightings to before deciding if their manager has a chance at beating the market after taxes or is really just a closet indexer charging excessive management fees.

FORBES: Five Reasons Your Mutual Fund Probably Underperforms The Market

In a different Forbes blog, Rick Ferri (The Indexer) mentions the work by Brad Barber ( University of California at Davis), Emmanuel George ( Ross School of Business), Reuven Lehavy ( Ross School of Business), and Brett Trueman ( Anderson School of Management).

FORBES: The Quant Idea