Down-markets don't just mean lower asset-based fees for fund managers; today's turbulence is also sparking bad publicity. SmartMoney's Paulette Miniter takes swipes at active managers in general, specifically Fidelity and Legg Mason, reporting (login required) on this year's painful performance so far.

Taking data from Lipper and Morningstar, and cues from two of the Chicago-based fund ratings specialist's analysts, Greg Carlson and Chris Davis, Miniter points to the average 34 percent loss Fidelity's bond funds have sustained so far in 2008 (compared to 32 percent for Vanguard). More specifically, Miniter singles out Bill Miller's Legg Mason Value Trust for its 48 percent drop so far this year and Harry Lange's Fidelity Magellan Fund for its 40-plus percent drop. One RIA put in all in the context of the weirdness of 2008.

"There is something strange about the market we're in," Burns Advisory chief investment officer Tim Courtney told Miniter. "It's leading a lot of actively managed funds to make wrong decisions, and it's making their funds look bad in the short run." 

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