Almost all investors assess their performance against ‘the market’. The premise is that if you are spending time actively managing funds then to make it worthwhile you should at least beat a simple tracker fund which would take no effort whatsoever.
But just how easy is it to beat the market? Looking at the performance of most mutual fund managers you could be forgiven for thinking that it isn’t easy at all! The fact is a lot of managers fail to beat the market, while the ones that do, like Warren Buffett, are catapulted to stardom as heroes of the industry. But I would argue it is easier than people think