There are different philosophies. I learned about the neutral setup when I was flying my 110 Sebart. I fly with some IMAC guys and I know at least one prefers to hold 'up' elevator during straight and level flight. He doesn't spend a ton of time there so it makes sense. I personally don't like it but I'm only an intermediate pilot.

Wings generate lift whenever they are moving forward and have a positive attack angle. If your plane can hold itself up hands-off, then the wings are generating lift whenever the plane is moving forward which will need to be compensated somehow - mix or otherwise.

Note that CG has a lot to do with this stuff. Moving your CG around will affect the amount your plane is pulling out of vertical climbs and dives (as well as KE passes).

My airplane is trimmed for straight and level with hands off. I found the CG sweet spot and it needs almost no elevator in verticals. It took a few days of CG tweaking to get there.