The phrase "beating the market" means earning an investment return that exceeds the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Commonly called the S&P 500, it's one of the most popular benchmarks of the overall U.S. stock market performance.
Everybody tries to beat it, but few succeed.
The Barriers
Investment fees are one major barrier to beating the market. If you take the popular advice to invest in an S&P 500 index fund rather than on individual stocks, your fund's performance should be identical to the performance of the S&P 500, for better or worse. But investment fees will be subtracted from those returns, so you won't quite match it, never mind beat it. Look for index funds with ultra-low fees of 0.05% to 0.2% a year, and you'll get close to equaling the market, though you won't beat it.
Taxes are another major barrier to beating the market. When you pay tax on your investment returns, you lose a significant percentage of your profit. The capital gains tax rate is 15% to 20%, unless your income is very low. And that's the tax on investments held for at least one year. Stocks held for a shorter-term are taxed as ordinary income.
Investor psychology presents a third barrier to beating the market. Perversely, most people have a tendency to buy high and sell low because they're inclined to buy when the market is performing well and sell out of fear when the market starts to drop. This one at least is within your control. Learn how to analyze a stock and consider the company's potential for future gains. It's not foolproof, but at least you'll be buying for sound reasons.
Risk Is Key
One way to try to beat the market is to take on more risk, but while greater risk can bring greater returns it can also bring greater losses.
You might also be able to outperform the market if you have superior information. There are few ways that an individual investor can possess superior information unless they are company insiders, and trading on nonpublic information is a serious crime called insider trading.
Defined more broadly, though, you may have superior information based on your expertise in an industry or a product. There's no crime in investing in what you know.
Some investors have made fortunes through what appear to be superior analytical skills. Household names like Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett achieved their successes by picking individual stocks. Many individuals you've never heard of have attempted similar strategies and failed. Even most professional mutual fund managers can't beat the market.
Sometimes It's Just Luck
Meaning no disrespect, Lynch and Buffett may have just been exceptionally lucky, even if they are financial whizzes. Highly regarded economists have shown that a portfolio of randomly chosen stocks can perform as well as a carefully assembled one.
Yes, you may be able to beat the market, but with investment fees, taxes, and human emotion working against you, you're more likely to do so through luck than skill. If you can merely match the S&P 500, minus a small fee, you'll be doing better than most investors.
FAQs
Yes, you may be able to beat the market, but with investment fees, taxes, and human emotion working against you, you're more likely to do so through luck than skill.
Can anyone consistently beat the market? ›
It is relatively common to beat the market for 1–3 years at a time. That can largely be explained by luck. But the data clearly shows that even professional fund managers are unable to beat the market consistently over a longer period of time, like 10–15 years.
Is it difficult to beat the market? ›
However, beating the market is quite challenging. While tales of legendary investors like Warren Buffett or Peter Lynch abound, their successes are often the exception rather than the rule.
What percentage of people can beat the market? ›
Over time, the odds of you beating the market only diminish. To prove this, let's look at an example: We saw from the data above that an investor has about a 75% chance of underperforming the market in any given year which means you have a 25% chance of beating the market in any given year.
Is there a way to beat the stock market? ›
History Says There's 1 Ridiculously Easy Way to Beat the Stock Market Experts. One popular investment approach is turning your portfolio over to a professional fund manager, whose job is to outperform the broader market over time. This is also known as active investing, and it seems like a smart decision.
What percentage of financial advisors beat the market? ›
Key Points. Less than 10% of active large-cap fund managers have outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 15 years. The biggest drag on investment returns is unavoidable, but you can minimize it if you're smart. Here's what to look for when choosing a simple investment that can beat the Wall Street pros.
What percentage of traders beat the market? ›
From 2010 through 2021, anywhere from 55 percent to 87 percent of actively managed funds that invest in S&P 500 stocks couldn't beat that benchmark in any given year. Compared with that, the results for 2022 were cause for celebration: About 51 percent of large-cap stock funds failed to beat the S&P 500.
What percent of active managers beat the market? ›
Last year, 47% of actively managed open-end mutual funds and exchange-traded funds beat their benchmarks - a marked increase over the 43% hurdle rate in 2022. Morningstar refers to the boost as a "surge." Yet active managers haven't become better at beating the market over the long term, as Morningstar acknowledges.
Why is the S&P 500 so hard to beat? ›
It's not easy to beat the S&P 500. In fact, most hedge funds and mutual funds underperform the S&P 500 over an extended period of time. That's because the S&P 500 selects from a large pool of stocks and continuously refreshes its holdings, dumping underperformers and replacing them with up-and-coming growth stocks.
How do I know if I'm beating the market? ›
The market average can be calculated in many ways, but usually a benchmark – such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average index – is a good representation of the market average. If your returns exceed the percentage return of the chosen benchmark, you have beaten the market.
“Warren Buffett was generally considered the greatest stock picker of all time.
Do 90% of people lose money in the stock market? ›
About 90% of investors lose money trading stocks. That's 9 out of every 10 people — both newbies and seasoned professionals — losing their hard earned dollars by trying to outsmart an unpredictable and extremely volatile machine.
Has any investor beaten the market? ›
Some investors have made fortunes through what appear to be superior analytical skills. Household names like Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett achieved their successes by picking individual stocks. Many individuals you've never heard of have attempted similar strategies and failed.
Can you consistently beat the S&P 500? ›
Beating the S&P 500 consistently is no easy task, and most funds fail. One ETF that is focused on growth and value has achieved this feat. This fund also trades at a cheaper valuation than the S&P 500 right now.
What percent of professionals beat the market? ›
Question: Over a recent 20 year period, what percent of pros investing in large companies "beat the market? Answer: 94% of investment pros underperformed (see below), so 6% outperformed.
Why can you not consistently beat the market if markets are efficient? ›
Market efficiency refers to the degree to which market prices reflect all available, relevant information. If markets are efficient, then all information is already incorporated into prices, and so there is no way to "beat" the market because there are no undervalued or overvalued securities available.
Can investors routinely beat the market if it is perfectly efficient? ›
Market efficiency theory states that if markets function efficiently then it will be difficult or impossible for an investor to outperform the market. Alphanomics combines finance, economics, and behavioral science to take advantage of investment opportunities.
