Long term investments

As the S&P 500 bottomed in late March, mom-and-pop darlings enjoyed weeks of inflows. Since then, the trend has shifted.

Analysis of their performance — and fees — may reveal some surprises.

The percentage of workers who say they are ready to retire has dropped by more than 5% in last month, a survey found.

“These funds got an assist from the Fed when they were told they would backstop the higher end of the high-yield credit industry,” an expert says.

“People are just saying, ‘Why should I pay for an active manager when most of them lose to the benchmark anyway?’ This is a big deal,” an expert says.

“I do believe that clients sometimes get too caught up in expense ratios,” an expert says.

Analysis of funds that have sustainable equivalents shows there’s neither a long-term edge nor a sacrifice for picking one strategy over the other.

Steady gains made in equity markets last year were "clearly a tailwind,” an expert says.

Stock plunges can hurt more than some clients may know, due to their asymmetrical relationship with gains.

“Investment allocations can differ from one fund to another, and so do the expense ratios,” an expert cautions.