Someone at the dinner table always complains: “This fund’s net asset value has more than doubled in ten years. I’ve held it for years—how come I’ve only made this much?”

The fund didn’t lie. Its net asset value assumes you put in a lump sum and leave it alone for ten years. Your account reflects every time you couldn’t resist tinkering.

Chase the rally, sell in a downturn, then switch to two hot sectors along the way—and the same fund can end up delivering two very different returns.

Brother, has your account’s actual return beaten the fund you bought?

Here’s the rest. Morningstar’s 2025 Mind the Gap study tracked more than 25,000 U.S. funds and ETFs. Over the ten years through the end of 2024, the funds themselves returned 8.2% annualized, while investors’ returns—calculated from the actual money they put in and took out—were 7.0% annualized. That’s a gap of 1.2 percentage points a year, roughly 15% of the funds’ total return gone.

The breakdown stings even more. Sector and thematic funds had the biggest gap. Investors in allocation funds that mix stocks and bonds captured nearly 97% of the returns. The more exciting the investment, the harder it is for people to stay the course.

But let’s be clear about the caveats. Morningstar itself says that normal practices like investing a fixed amount from each paycheck and periodically rebalancing can also create a gap. So you can’t chalk the whole figure up to “dumb retail investors making mistakes.”

So when you’re investing regularly, keep a steady hand. Avoid impulsive trades, don’t stop when the market falls, and don’t pile in to chase gains when it rises. This is not investment advice.

#定投 #基金 #U.S. stocks