Investor Return™
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Fact Sheet: Morningstar® Investor Return™ Investor Benefits Morningstar now calculates investor returns (also Total return measures the percentage change in 3 Complements total return and known as dollar-weighted returns) for open-end mutual price for a fund, assuming the investor buys and holds provides a different view of investors’ experience in a fund. funds and exchange-traded funds to capture how the fund over the time period, reinvests distributions, the average investor fared in a fund over a period of and does not make any additional purchases or sales. In 3 Reveals whether investors time. Investor return incorporates the impact of this example, the one-year total return is 0%, because do a good job timing their fund purchases and sales. cash inflows and outflows from purchases and sales the fund price was the same at the beginning and end of and the growth in fund assets. the year and there were no distributions. 3 Indicates whether the fund is serving investors’ long-term Background However, the total return of 0% does not reflect what interests. Investors often suffer from poor timing and poor this investor experienced. This investor contributed a total planning. Investors know they should hold diversified of $200 to yield a net of $150 at the end of the year. portfolios, but many chase past performance and end up buying funds too late or selling too soon. For In this case, a better measure of investor experience example, many investors abandoned their value is investor return, which shows how this investor funds and purchased growth funds in the late 1990s fared over time, factoring in the cash flows from pur- right before the market bubble burst. The tide turned chases and sales. In the example above, the six-month and value stocks outperformed growth stocks in investor return is -17.71%, and the annualized one- the subsequent years. year investor return is -32.29%. These are the constant rates of return that reconcile the initial investments A fund’s published total return reflects a buy and with the ending amount. Imagine the initial $100 hold strategy. This information is widely available on investment losing 32.29% over 12 months, dropping to fund family Web sites, in marketing material and $67.71, and the $100 June investment losing 17.71% over from independent sources such as Morningstar. But, six months, dropping to $82.29. These six- and not all investors buy and hold. Investors move their 12-month losses explain the investor’s balance of $150 money in and out of funds as they search for the best at the end of the year. return, and the net assets of funds rise and fall over time. What It Means for Investors Investor return measures the experience of the average In contrast to total return, investor return accounts investor in a fund. It is not one specific investor’s for all cash flows into and out of the fund to measure experience, but rather a measure of the return earned how the average investor performed over time. collectively by all the investors in the fund. Investor In a classic example, a fund receives a great inflow of returns are not a substitute for total returns but can be assets right after a period of good performance used in combination with total returns. and right before a period of poor performance. Investor returns capture these flows and place more weight The gap between investor return and total return on the months with higher assets. In this example, indicates how well investors timed their fund purchases investor return is lower than total return because more and sales. When investor return is less than total investors participated in the losses. return, it means that investors didn’t participate equally in the fund’s monthly returns—more investors partic- Consider an example of a person who invests $100 ipated in the downside returns and less in the upside in a fund at the beginning of the year. At a $10 net asset returns. This sometimes happens when investors value, the investor purchases 10 shares. After six chase returns and assets flow into a fund at its peak months, the net asset value increases to $20, and the of performance. This effect can be exacerbated person invests another $100 (five more shares). when investors aim to break even and refuse to sell At the end of the year, the net asset value falls back to a losing fund. $10 and the fund investor sells all 15 shares. ©2006 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Morningstar and the Morningstar logo are either trademarks or service marks of Morningstar, Inc. 07.27.06 ©2006 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Morningstar and the Morningstar logo are either trademarks or service marks of Morningstar, Inc. Inc.All rights reserved. Morningstarandthelogoare eithertrademarksorservicemarksofMorningstar, ©2006 Morningstar, Examples Fact Sheet:Morningstar and netassethistor (five and Investor returnsaremostusefuloverlongertimeperiods to totalr will likelyhavefundswithlowinvestorreturnsrelative tise short-termreturns andpromotehigh-riskfunds investors’ long-terminterests.Fundfamiliesthatadver- trendy funds,theymaynotbelookingoutforthe If thesecompaniesencourageshor funds andtopromotesoundinvestmentstrategies. Fund familieshavearesponsibilitytoproduceeffective fund familiesarepreservingtheinvestorexperience. investor returnscanalsoshedlightonhowwell In additiontorevealingpatternsofinvestorbehavior, when itsstyleofinvestinghasgoneoutfavor. and continuetoinvestnewmoniesintoafund,even when investorsarecommittedtoadiversificationstrategy upswing andlessinthedownswing.Thiscanhappen it meansthatmoreinvestorsparticipatedinthefund’s When investorreturnisgreaterthantotalreturn, trailing timeperiods(three-yearvs. Investor returnscanvaryquiteabitfordifferent whether investorshavetimedthosepurchaseswell. also helpfulforhigh-volatilityandsector fundstoassess variety ofmarketconditions.Investorreturnsare fund inAugustdidnothavethesameexperience asthosewho suffered consecutivemonthsoflosses.Investors whopurchasedthis the growthof$10,000hititshighat$14,170. Sincethen,thefund For thefundonleft,netassetsgr These twochartsillustratedifferentpatterns ofinvestorbehavior. Growth of $10,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 0 etur 10 T otal Return:3.60%Investor-10.98% year returns)sincethereismore return ns. Jan Feb Mar y Apr available andtheseperiodsspana May Jun Jul ew rapidlyandpeakedwhen Aug ® Investor Return Sep t-term tradingand 10 Oct -year) aswell Nov Dec 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 0 T Net Assets (mil) M the fund in January. the fundinJanuary. in Augusthadafairlysimilarexperienceas investorswhopurchased growth innetassetsandreturns. Investorswhopurchasedthefund illustrate thatef andthelower investorreturns purchased thefundinJanuary, C pr question, investorr Once monthlycashflowsareavailablefortheperiodin that cannotbeexplainedbythemonthlytotalr difference inbeginningandendingtotalnetassets(TNA) fund. Thecashflowestimateforamonth(C)issimplythe calculates themonthlycashinflowsandoutflowsforeach In ordertocalculateinvestorreturn,Morningstar first Methodology of Investor returnswereintroduced inthefourthquarter When andWhere with allmonthlycashfl makes thebeginningassetsequaltoending investor returnistheconstantmonthlyrateof that and totalreturns. may begreaterdisparitiesbetweeninvestorreturns Depending onwhatwashappeninginthemarket,there look verydifferentthaninvestorreturns through2006. returns calculateduptothepeakofmarketin2000 Forexample,investor for differentpointsinhistory. products. investor returnisannualizedfordisplaypurposes. Growth of $10,000 t ocess. Aswithaninter = 2006 10,000 12,000 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 TNA 0 0 and areavailableinnumerousMorningstar t Total Return:12.04%Investor15.77% Total – \ TNA fect. Incontrast,thefundonrightexhibits steady Jan Feb t-1 (1+r Mar etur Apr t ns canbederivedwithaniterative ows accountedfor ) May nal rateofr Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct etur Nov n Dec . calculation, The monthly eturn (r). 300 100 150 0 50 200 250 Net Assets (000).