BLOG

The managers running the biggest active funds picked stocks that beat the market in 2025 — and most still lagged their benchmark. A Morningstar do-nothing experiment and a body of academic research explain why active funds underperform even when the picking is good: skilled buying undone by poor selling, the hidden cost of trading, and the incentives that keep managers churning. The UK evidence points the same way.

How much of your portfolio should be in stocks? It's one of investing's most important questions — and the standard answer is costing the average investor the equivalent of 2% of their lifetime consumption. Yale economists have finally built something better, and it fits in a spreadsheet.

Speaking on Morningstar's The Long View podcast in May 2025, Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig offered sobering advice for investors grappling with unprecedented market uncertainty. As global markets wrestle with President Trump's sweeping tariff policies, Zweig warned: "We don't know that fundamental rules haven't changed...but that's an awful lot of things to be right about" when making dramatic portfolio changes. Zweig's commentary comes as he prepares the latest e

Retirement is an outdated concept. More and more people are finding that working later in life can boost health, purpose and income.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has investors on edge — but does more uncertainty mean it’s time to abandon passive funds in...