John Husselbee: The perils of trying to time the market

A common saying in investment circles goes that timing the market is a fool's game, whereas time in the market - ie keeping your money invested - will typically lead to solid results. And, to that end, new research from Morningstar makes this point in the starkest possible terms. In response to the question ‘is there a good time to buy or sell actively managed funds?', the report concludes with a resounding no, based on the fact most equity performance over multiple decades has come down to just a few months. Being out of the market for these so-called critical months can have a massive ...