Active managers rejoice, the market is returning to your sweet spot.

That was among the messages communicated by Putnam [profile] senior executives Tuesday during a morning parley with financial journalists held at the St. Regis Hotel in Midtown.

Roughly 20 financial journalists from a wide of variety of publications attended the event, featuring a continental breakfast (the granola was killer) and nameplates.

In attendance was Putnam chief executive Bob Reynolds as well as equity and investment pundits Walter Donovan, chief investment officer; Nick Thakore and Robert Ewing, co-heads of U.S. equities and Shep Perkins, co-head of international equities.

The five experts spoke at length on the trends in the equities markets, both global and domestic.

In short, it's a good time to be an active manager.

"I think we are set up for a good active management environment," said Ewing.

Thakore said that the stock markets continue to surprise people.

"It [the equities market] just keeps sneaking up on people. They are surprised by what the markets have done," he said.

He himself said he is being "bullish, but mostly focused on stock-picking."

At the end of the day, the stock market is about what corporations earn and what you pay for those earnings. That is where the story has been outstanding. There is still opportunity. The stock-picking environment is outstanding.

And in this environment, the pundits argued, active management should start to do better than indexers.

"If stock-picking works, then indexing underperforms. If active management works, it should lead to people believing in it. You have seen signs of active management doing better over time," Thakore said.

At some point, he said, "people will want to make money. At some point that baton is going to be passed. It will be more than just 'Don't lose me money.'" 

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