DALBAR study of stock mutual fund investors in 2018 vs. S&P500 stock average

The latest DALBAR study shows 

the Average Equity Fund Investor 

lost twice as much as the  

S&P 500's decline in 2018.

The average investor was

a net withdrawer of funds 

in 2018, but poor timing 

caused a 9.42% loss

compared to an S&P 500

 index loss of 4.38%.

“Judging by the 

cash flows we saw, 

investors sensed danger 

in the markets and 

decreased their exposure 

but not nearly enough 

to prevent serious losses."

"Unfortunately, the problem 

was compounded by being 

out of the market during 

the recovery months."

"DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis 

of Investor Behavior Study 

has been analyzing investor returns 

since 1994 and has consistently 

found that the average investor 

earns much less than market 

indices would suggest". 

Source:

https://www.dalbar.com/Portals/dalbar/Cache/News/PressReleases/QAIBPressRelease_2019.pdf