Under the microscope

Do your clients own a fund that has done particularly well over the past decade? If so, how much of that gain did they receive? The question is not academic. While some investors will have participated in the full return of a fund over the stated period, many will not. That is because the unfortunate natural tendency of investors is to want to chase performance - many are attracted to funds that have strong past performance, and tend to bail out in the face of big losses. As a result, they earn substantially less than they could from their funds. To help investors and advisers gauge the e...