I'm not sure removing the quality of underlying companies is a valid analysis for what most investors care about, which is the return they're likely to get.

IMHO, the real point here is that in value investing, being able to pick out the relative winners may be more important than in growth.

And if, like me, you're not an expert stock picker, finding a good active mutual fund that focuses on value is the way to go.

In addition, I think it's highly dependent on the time period you choose. For example, comparing the 10-year performance of T. Rowe Price's Blue Chip Growth Fund to that of T. Rowe Price Value Fund from Jan 2000 to Dec 2010, we see the latter returned 2.9% annualized, while the former returned only 0.5%.