absolutely not. If shareholders were risk neutral, they'd be buying bonds, or holding cash. "passive" investment is wholly built upon the concept that "passive" investment outpaces active investment - the very fact that you're in the equity markets suggests you are chasing the 6-8%+ annualized returns (and associated risks) from equity investments. Passive is a replacement for stock picking, and while more conservative in nature, isn't really so in a relative sense.