Mistake #9: Past performance is no
guarantee of future results
Every hot mutual fund manager who is on the cover of some investing magazine, every trader who made a one shot killing, every strategist who accidentally stumbled into a lucky call: Many people chase the gurus, looking for a little magic that will make them wealthy.
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.
Consider: The Morningstar mutual fund rating 5 star ranking attracts lots of new investors and lots fresh dollars. The primary factor in the rating is (can you believe it?) past performance. This despite a Morningstar study that found 5 star funds mostly underperform — my assumption is it’s a case of simple mean reversion. As it turns out, the fund’s expense ratio is a much better predictor of performance (See results here).
When making any investment, make sure you are not merely chasing a hot quarter or two. Note that there are 10,000 hedge funds and 12,000 mutual funds and very few consistent managers generating sustainable, repeatable returns.
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