Exchange-traded funds now oversee more than $3.2 trillion, overtaking the $2.97 trillion held in hedge funds, as investors seek to avoid high fees while getting in on stocks, the Financial Times reports.

“For many years, hedge funds generated returns beyond those investors could gain from exposure to market benchmarks,” the newspaper reports. “But as the industry grew, performance faltered. Hedge funds stopped generating excess returns in 2011, and since then have underperformed benchmarks.”

The S&P 500 stock index has risen 0.9 percent from 12 months earlier, and is barely above levels first reached two years ago. The stock benchmark fell for nine straight days by Friday, the longest losing streak since 1980.

ETFs charge a management fee of about 0.35 percentage point of total assets, compared with the standard 2 percent of assets and 20 percent of gains for hedge funds. ETFs are considered a “passive” investment because their holdings are based on a predefined stock index, industry or strategy, while hedge funds are typically more “active” what they trade.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates that $8 trillion is “up for grabs” in the next few years for asset managers.

“This ‘money in motion’ will be a battleground over the next decade where low-cost passive managers, high-conviction fundamental managers and innovative alpha generators will compete intensively for share,” the FT reports, citing McKinsey’s report on the North American asset management industry.