What is QAIB?Dalbar's 2011 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) is the seventeenth annual edition of a report that examines the returns that investors actually realize and the behaviors that produce those returns.

Since 1994, Dalbar's QAIB has been measuring the effects of investor decisions to buy, sell and switch into and out of mutual funds over both short- and long-term time frames. The results consistently show that the average investor earns less - in many cases, much less - than mutual fund performance reports would suggest.

The goal of QAIB is to continue to improve the performance of independent investors on the one hand and of professional financial advisors on the other hand by incorporating the factors that influence behavior that determines the outcome of investment or savings strategies. QAIB offers guidance on how and where investor behaviors can be improved.

QAIB 2011 examines real investor returns in equity, fixed income and asset allocation funds. The analysis covers the 20-year period ended December 31, 2010, encompassing both the drop at the turn of the millennium and the crash of 2008, plus the recovery periods of 2009 and 2010. This year's report discusses the goal of "investor alpha".

The report explains how investors and advisors adapt to changing market conditions and produce investor alpha using investor behaviors, the psychological factors that drive them and the knowledge of how investment classes have acted in the past.

The introduction of the concept of "investor alpha" continues with the tradition uncovered when the study was first published in 1994 that no matter the state of the mutual fund industry, boom or bust, the key findings remain consistent: Investment results are more dependent on investor behavior than on fund performance. Mutual fund investors who hold on to their investments are more successful than those who time the market.

What does the Report include?

• Investor Returns - The bottom line: how did investors return compared to broad market indices?
  
   
• Investor Behaviors Continue to Fall Prey to Market Forces - A look at how investor behavior affects that bottom line, and a discussion of why investors do what they do.
  
   
• QAIB Through the Years - This section compares the average investor returns and buy-and-hold returns for each calendar twenty year period since 1998.
  
   
• Systematic Investing - Changes Occurring - This section shows the results for the average investor in equity, fixed income or asset allocation mutual funds and the hypothetical process of systematic investing.
  
   
• Desperately Seeking ALPHA... AND How to Capture More - Introduces a behavior based approach to maximize alpha for the retail investor.

What is the Cost of the Report?

• Immediate electronic version-Adviser Edition ($99 USD)
• Immediate electronic version- Full QAIB Report ($750 USD)

How do I order QAIBYou can order the QAIB report by calling 617-723-6400 or at www.QAIB.com.