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 often should you check your investment portfolio? Probably far less often than you do. The 56/44 daily split of up and down days in the stock market, combined with the human tendency to feel losses twice as keenly as gains, means daily checking is almost mathematically guaranteed to make you miserable. Ben Carlson's new book Risk & Reward sets out the evidence — and the practical moves that protect long-term investors from their own short-term instincts.
Robin Powell
May 228 min read
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