According to Morningstar data, last year the average S&P 500 fund missed by the amount of their expense ratios plus an additional 0.38%, or 38 basis points (one basis point is 1/100th of a percent)
That doesn’t seem all that bad to me, but Vanguard seems to claim that they stay within 5 basis points, which is a lot better.
I did some research on index funds a while ago, and it does seem that individuals who invest in index funds do substantially worse than the index funds themselves, because they buy into the funds during bull markets and sell on the dips. But people who buy and hold index funds for the long haul return close to the same as the fund itself.
That doesn’t seem all that bad to me, but Vanguard seems to claim that they stay within 5 basis points, which is a lot better.
I did some research on index funds a while ago, and it does seem that individuals who invest in index funds do substantially worse than the index funds themselves, because they buy into the funds during bull markets and sell on the dips. But people who buy and hold index funds for the long haul return close to the same as the fund itself.