The funds made 9.89% a year. Their investors kept 8.74%.

The funds made 9.89% a year. Their investors kept 8.74%.

That is Morningstar’s Mind the Gap 2026, covering US funds and ETFs over the ten years to 2025. Both numbers are after fees. The funds weren’t the problem. The timing of money going in and out was.

In my own office, agents now do the first read on almost everything: filings, manager letters, fee comparisons. That part of investing is getting cheaper every quarter, and it is getting cheaper for everyone at once.

What doesn’t get cheaper is the decision in the middle of a bad week. On 22 October the semiconductor index was more than 26% below its June record and still up 51.5% for the year. An agent will give you both numbers in seconds. Whether you sell is still something a person has to sign.

Analysis scales. Risk, accountability and trust don’t.

One caveat worth keeping: Morningstar is careful to say the gap isn’t all bad behaviour. Even steady monthly investing opens a small one, because later money has less time to compound.