How many mutual funds outperform the S&P 500?
It found that over the course of one year, 51.08% of actively-managed mutual funds underperformed the S&P 500, and 48.92% of actively-managed funds outperformed the S&P 500.
The second highest performing fund in the list was the $395m BlackRock US Growth fund, managed by Phil Ruvinsky and Caroline Bottinelli. The strategy was up 52.68% last year, after a 40.57% loss in 2022. Over a five-year period ending 2023, the strategy was up 92.91% – lagging the S&P 500 index return of 107.21%.
Less than 10% of active large-cap fund managers have outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 15 years. The biggest drag on investment returns is unavoidable, but you can minimize it if you're smart. Here's what to look for when choosing a simple investment that can beat the Wall Street pros.
Although it is very difficult, the market can be beaten. Every year, some managers boast better numbers than the market indices. A small fraction even manages to do so over a longer period. Over the horizon of the last 20 years, less than 10% of U.S. actively managed funds have beaten the market.
Vanguard Growth & Income Fund (VGIAX)
VGIAX's one-two punch of investment goals helped it beat the overall stock market in 2022 and 2023. Over the past 10 years, this fund's average annual return is about even with the S&P 500. Likewise, its trailing 12-month dividend yield approaches the broad market's.
(NASDAQ:DXCM) and Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) are the only two healthcare sector companies that have made it onto our list of 13 stocks that outperform the S&P 500 every year for the last 5 years. The shares of DexCom, Inc.
As we can see in the table above, Quant Flexi Cap gave a 32.96 per cent annualised return followed by JM Flexi cap which delivered a 27 per cent return. HDFC Flexi Cap gave a 26 per cent annualised return, followed by Parag Parikh Flexi Cap, which gave a 21 per cent return.
International developed stock fund managers were able to beat their respective indexes in four of the past 23 years, or 17.4% of the time. Meanwhile, emerging markets active fund managers fared even worse. They only managed to outperform in two years, or 8.7% of the time, during these 20-plus years.
To examine the stock-picking record of active managers, I looked at the portfolio histories for all funds in the nine Morningstar Style Box categories dating to 2013 through the end of 2023. Over those 10 years, only 10% of mutual funds saw more than half of their stock picks beat the index.
Nasdaq 100 has significantly outperformed S&P 500 in terms of performance.
Do mutual funds ever beat the market?
Do mutual funds outperform the stock market? The study found that most actively managed mutual funds do worse than their benchmark index during most calendar years and over the long run. Notably, low-cost stock and bond index funds generally offer more predictable returns and lower costs than actively-managed funds.
Nobody can predict the market movements. Hence, instead of focusing on timing the market, one should be disciplined and should keep on investing in equity mutual funds irrespective of the market fluctuations. In the long term, these short term fluctuations do not affect your investments.
However, when considering a 10-year scope, only 44% of active funds kept above the index and the active average return for 10 years only hit 56.5% while passive reached 60.5%. “While all active fund investors expect outperformance, it's not statistically possible for all managers to outperform,” Khalaf said.
| Index fund | Minimum investment | Expense ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard 500 Index Fund - Admiral Shares (VFIAX) | $3,000. | 0.04%. |
| Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX) | No minimum. | 0.02%. |
| Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) | No minimum. | 0.015%. |
| Fidelity Zero Large Cap Index (FNILX) | No minimum. | 0.0%. |
| Rank | Symbol | Fund Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | VSMPX | Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund;Institutional Plus |
| 2 | FXAIX | Fidelity 500 Index Fund |
| 3 | VFIAX | Vanguard 500 Index Fund;Admiral |
| 4 | VTSAX | Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund;Admiral |
Yes, you may be able to beat the market, but with investment fees, taxes, and human emotion working against you, you're more likely to do so through luck than skill. If you can merely match the S&P 500, minus a small fee, you'll be doing better than most investors.
- High-yield savings accounts.
- Money market funds.
- Short-term certificates of deposit.
- Series I savings bonds.
- Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
- Corporate bonds.
- Dividend-paying stocks.
- Preferred stocks.
However, while both the Russell 1000 Growth and S&P 500 Growth performance reflected large cap growth's banner year, the return difference between the two indexes tracking the same market segment was significant. As shown, the Russell 1000 Growth returned 42.68% in 2023, compared with 30.03% for the S&P 500 Growth.
Stock Market Average Yearly Return for the Last 20 Years
The historical average yearly return of the S&P 500 is 9.74% over the last 20 years, as of the end of February 2024. This assumes dividends are reinvested. Adjusted for inflation, the 20-year average stock market return (including dividends) is 6.96%.
Five large cap mutual funds that gave the highest return in the past 10 years are Nippon India Large Cap Fund which gave 17.09% returns, followed by Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund with 16.99% return. The other three are ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund, SBI Bluechip Fund and HDFC Top 100 Fund.
Do mutual funds perform better than index funds?
Index funds offer lower fees and tax efficiency. Due to their passive nature, they often perform in line with market benchmarks, making them suitable for investors seeking broad market exposure at lower costs. On the other hand, active mutual funds aim to outperform the market by employing active management strategies.
The choice comes down to what you value most. If you prefer the flexibility of trading intraday and favor lower expense ratios in most instances, go with ETFs. If you worry about the impact of commissions and spreads, go with mutual funds.
It found that over the course of one year, 51.08% of actively-managed mutual funds underperformed the S&P 500, and 48.92% of actively-managed funds outperformed the S&P 500.
In order to beat the index, the fund managers have to be overweight on some stocks which they believe will outperform the index. Since actively managed mutual funds are overweight / underweight on some stocks, they will have unsystematic risks in addition to systematic or market risk.
Generally, when you look at mutual fund performance over the long run, you can see a trend of actively-managed funds underperforming the S&P 500 index. A common statistic is that the S&P 500 outperforms 80% of mutual funds. While this statistic is true in some years, it's not always the case.
