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The investment factor reveals a counterintuitive truth: companies that spend aggressively on growth tend to deliver lower returns than their cautious peers. With Big Tech pouring hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure, six decades of academic evidence suggest investors should be sceptical.

Terry Smith blames index funds for Fundsmith's five-year slump — but international market data, factor analysis, and 2024's high-dispersion conditions tell a different story. Here's what the evidence actually shows.

Buffer ETFs are designed to limit stock market losses over a set period, usually in exchange for capping potential gains. Now becoming available to UK investors, these downside protection ETFs use options to cushion falls in markets such as the S&P five hundred. This article explains how buffer ETFs work, what they cost, and whether the trade-offs are worth it for long-term investors.

Why do mutual funds underperform? New research from the University of Sydney reveals that at least 55% of fund performance is attributable to luck, not skill. Worse, luck actively predicts future underperformance: lucky funds attract inflows, grow too large, and lose their capacity to generate returns. Morningstar's five-star funds significantly underperform one-star funds in subsequent periods. Stop chasing yesterday's winners and own the market at low cost.

New research analysing 153 years of US market data reveals why expected stock returns over the next decade are likely to disappoint. The three forces driving returns — dividends, earnings growth, and P/E changes — rarely pull together when valuations are stretched. With the Shiller CAPE at 40 for only the second time in history, the maths suggests caution. Here's what disciplined investors should do.

Does the January barometer really predict stock market returns? This Wall Street saying claims January's performance forecasts the whole year. But the evidence tells a different story. While the pattern appears accurate roughly 70% of the time, this success rate is misleading — markets rise in most years anyway. Before betting your portfolio on this calendar superstition, discover what the data actually shows.

The most valuable New Year's resolution for investors in 2026? Tune out the noise. The evidence is clear: market forecasters are no better than coin flippers, yet we keep listening. Here's why ignoring predictions might be the best investment decision you make this year.

S&P 500 concentration risk is at historic highs. If you own a global tracker, your portfolio may be far less diversified than you think. Here's what you can do about it.

"Buy the dip" sounds like smart investing — wait for prices to fall, then pounce. But 60 years of evidence reveals the strategy underperforms passive investing more than 60% of the time. Here's why waiting for the perfect moment costs more than it saves.

Is private equity worth it? New research shows PE's 3.8% annual edge over public markets is far smaller than the industry claims, has been shrinking since 2006, and partly disappears once you adjust for leverage, size, and sector exposure. With all-in fees reaching 6% per year, retail investors should ask why the velvet rope is coming down just as institutional outperformance has faded. The answer: the industry needs your money.

With the Magnificent Seven dominating the S&P 500, concentration risk is at historic highs. Here's why portfolio diversification remains your best defence.

Active fund managers claim they earn their fees when markets fall. New Morningstar research spanning 26 years tests this claim. The findings: active funds in downturns do outperform more often, but markets rise 80% of the time, swamping any advantage. When COVID and 2022 stress-tested the theory, most active managers failed to protect investors. The promised shelter turns out to be little more than a coin flip.

Terry Smith's Fundsmith beat the market for a decade, then trailed four straight years. £3.31bn fled in 2024. Most investors lost money vs a tracker. Why? Timing. They bought high after stellar returns, sold low during underperformance. Jack Bogle's iron law: money arrives after gains, leaves during losses. Even star managers can't beat that.

When Cathie Wood declared index funds "a form of socialism", she joined decades of active managers attacking passive investing on ideological grounds. But proxy voting data reveals something awkward: ARK voted with management 99.2% of the time versus Vanguard's 98.5%. We examine the evidence on index fund governance, ARK's performance record, and why "passive investing destroys capitalism" rhetoric intensifies when active managers underperform.

nvestment consultants have systematically raised their return assumptions for alternative assets since 2001 — not because performance improved, but because complexity generates fees. New research from Stanford and Harvard reveals how consultant optimism drives billions in pension allocations, despite mounting evidence that simple, low-cost indexed strategies often outperform alternatives-heavy portfolios. The entire boom may be built on structural conflicts rather than superi

You check your energy bill religiously. When your provider raised charges by £12, you noticed within days. You've compared broadband three times this year, saving £8 monthly. But when did you last calculate your all-in investment fees? That £3 broadband overcharge equals £36 yearly. A 1% overcharge on a £500,000 portfolio equals £5,000 annually—139 times more. Yet the smaller cost receives obsessive attention whilst the larger goes unexamined for decades. This article reveals

Fidelity's active funds built their reputation on Peter Lynch's legendary returns. But 30 years of data reveals zero funds with statistically significant outperformance. Most telling? Fidelity's own $723 billion bet on zero-fee index funds—bigger than its flagship active fund. When Peter Lynch's company stops backing Peter Lynch's strategy, the evidence speaks louder than marketing.

Trump trades—betting on presidential policies — seem obvious. Reality? Investors who bet against Trump taking action earned S&P 500 returns. Believers lost 20%.

The so-called stock-picker’s market is a myth that fund managers use to justify their fees, whatever the market does. Decades of data show that even when conditions should favour active managers, most still underperform. The evidence is clear: simplicity, not stock-picking, wins in the long run.

Investing at market highs often triggers fear and hesitation. Yet a century of market data shows that record peaks are a normal feature of long-term growth. This article explores three clear, evidence-based ways to approach investing at market highs without falling into paralysis.