Should you dump mutual funds in favor of ETFs?

FEB 20, 2009
By  Bloomberg
While it’s not wise to change your entire mutual fund investment strategy based on recent performance, it may be time to consider some alternatives like ETFs. For mutual fund investors, 2007 and 2008 were brutal years. First it was the large capital gains distributions in 2007, then it was the terrible performance in 2008. In many ways, mutual funds are coming up short from the standpoints of taxes, performance and expenses. If mutual funds are flawed, what are the alternatives? Consider exchange traded funds. There are now hundreds of ETFs, ranging from broad-based market-tracking ETFs to sector-specific holdings. Even though the investment community promotes mutual funds for long-term investing, portfolio managers often don’t act that way. Many mutual funds have turnover exceeding 100% of their portfolios each year. The substantial trading can create additional capital gains distributions, which erode the investor’s returns. In addition to annual tax costs from turnover, advisers can be surprised with legacy tax costs. Funds could go for a number of years with little to no gains, and then distribute substantial gains, based on the sale of long-term holdings. The problem is that a client may not have been an investor in the fund during the years when many of those gains occurred. Basically, such clients are paying taxes on gains never received. From an investment standpoint, mutual fund managers have some explaining to do. Pick a fund, any fund, and go to its website. Likely there will be an explanation of its investment strategy, which the managers will say is disciplined and designed to control risk. In 2008, however, things didn’t quite work out as planned. According to the January issue of the Journal of Financial Planning, about 68% of actively managed, large-cap mutual funds failed to beat the S&P 500 stock index last year. Moreover, a number of prominent funds that had good long-term track records fell apart in the second half of the year. At times, fund managers can become so consumed by beating an index or staying wedded to one philosophy that their judgment becomes clouded. This can lead them to take excessive risks that result in excessive losses. Given that investors generally feel a loss three times more keenly than they do a gain, a fund that fails at least to match its benchmark can be a serious problem from a business standpoint. Over the last few years, far too many advisers found themselves apologizing for a fund’s performance. From an expense standpoint, mutual funds pose a problem, too. If funds are tax-inefficient and fail to produce returns that exceed their benchmarks, then why pay for active management? Investors can lower investment costs by at least 0.5 to 0.75 percentage points by using low-cost ETFs instead of mutual funds. All else being equal, this is a positive addition to a client’s long-term returns. What’s more, ETFs are often highly tax-efficient because investors have their own cost basis in the shares they own. Turnover is generally quite low, as most ETFs track established market indexes. This means the annual distributions are usually small and the client won’t be saddled with legacy tax costs. Lower tax costs generally mean a higher net return for clients. And finally, during bear markets, investors are not burdened with surprises. Broad-market ETFs have a very low tracking error and tremendous transparency. Therefore, advisers know what they’re getting. This can be incredibly important during times of economic crisis. Advisers need to know what clients own so that they can effectively manage portfolio risks. When it comes to creating portfolios, advisers may better spend their time studying index and ETF construction than searching for the “best in breed” manager. There are, of course, many good mutual fund managers. It is just hard to identify them with any degree of consistency, and sometimes good managers make mistakes. Given current conditions, this may be a good time to hedge bets with some passive indexing that is low-cost, tax-efficient and transparent.

Latest News

Northern Trust names new West Region president for wealth
Northern Trust names new West Region president for wealth

The new regional leader brings nearly 25 years of experience as the firm seeks to tap a complex and evolving market.

Capital Group extends retirement plan services further with a focus on advisors
Capital Group extends retirement plan services further with a focus on advisors

The latest updates to its recordkeeping platform, including a solution originally developed for one large 20,000-advisor client, take aim at the small to medium-sized business space.

Why RIAs are the next growth frontier for annuities
Why RIAs are the next growth frontier for annuities

David Lau, founder and CEO of DPL Financial Partners, explains how the RIA boom and product innovation has fueled a slow-burn growth story in annuities.

Supreme Court slaps down challenge to IRS summons for Coinbase user data
Supreme Court slaps down challenge to IRS summons for Coinbase user data

Crypto investor argues the federal agency's probe, upheld by a federal appeals court, would "strip millions of Americans of meaningful privacy protections."

Houston-based RIA Americana Partners adds $1B+ with former Morgan Stanley director
Houston-based RIA Americana Partners adds $1B+ with former Morgan Stanley director

Meanwhile in Chicago, the wirehouse also lost another $454 million team as a group of defectors moved to Wells Fargo.

SPONSORED How advisors can build for high-net-worth complexity

Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.

SPONSORED RILAs bring stability, growth during volatile markets

Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.