Stop Trying to Beat the Market: This Vanguard ETF Outperforms 90% of Professional Fund Managers

Trying to outperform the stock market during any single calendar year usually has less than a 50% success rate. Stretch that out to a period of multiple years, and the success rate gets even worse. Over the typical 10-year investment period, it's almost not even worth trying.

Stop Trying to Beat the Market: This Vanguard ETF Outperforms 90% of Professional Fund Managers. Trying to outperform the stock market during any single calendar year usually has less than a 50% success rate. Stretch that out to a period of multiple years, and the success rate gets even worse. Over the typical 10-year investment period, it's almost not even worth trying. According to the latest SPIVA U.S. Scorecard, published twice a year by S&P Dow Jones indexes, the underperformance rate for actively managed large-cap funds exceeds 90% over a 15-year time frame. This is how exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced their big boom. By paying razor-thin expense ratios on passively managed index funds instead of paying fees that often exceed 1% on actively managed funds, investors could keep more performance for themselves instead of sendin...