PROOF POINTS™:
a continuing diary of commentary and news for Holland Portfolio investors

–>  A Tale of Twenty Four Hours: why active investing stimulates the sale of antacids … but not consistent returns
–>  Consumer Reports study shows stock-pickers beat the S & P 500 only 9% of the time
–>  How Newton the investor discovered a fourth Law of Motion: "… returns decrease as motion (trading) increases."
–>  Schwab on diversification
–>  Swensen on diversification, indexing, myths
–>  Clements: "What counts is commitment."
–>  Older is wiser?
–>  Active Management
falls "flat"

–>  Proof Points™ Archive

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Older is wiser?
[Download Printable Proof PointTM]

A recent study published in The New York Times posed a critical question: with the wisdom of experience, do people become better active investors with age?

Answer:  no.

Not only did individuals’ actively-managed portfolio success decline with age, researchers found that every age group in the study (36-40, for example) trailed performance of the market as a whole.

The study was conducted by two professors of finance at the University of Notre Dame who used as their database 75,000 accounts at major discount brokerage.

Authors of the study concluded that index investing was the only viable option for long-term investment success … at any age.