Tell us something we didn't already know ....

[bbuzzard]

Interesting Yahoo Finance article regarding self directed investing:

http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/061206/20408.html

Download the cited study at:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=616981#PaperDownload

I hope this is not old news to everyone here.

 

[audreyh1]

Great article! Wow - really shows you how the deck is stacked - eh?

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

"In a race for the best mutual fund returns between do-it-yourself investors and those who get guidance from financial advisers, you might expect the latter to win. After all, they're receiving the benefit of expert advice. They likely have access to special mutual funds with complex investment strategies or funds that are smaller and lesser-known. Their advisers hypothetically would select funds with better risk-adjusted returns and lower costs (excluding loads, of course).

Plus, they'd give their clients better advice about asset allocation, which is the primary driver of portfolio performance, according to a well-known landmark study published in 1986 in the Financial Analysts Journal.

Meanwhile, individual investors without the benefit of this expert advice would lumber along slowly, achieving dull returns in a futile race. Right?

Nope. In fact, two recent studies arrive at the opposite conclusion: that do-it-yourself investors do better without help from the so-called experts."