Since 1994, DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) has tracked how investor decisions—buying, selling, and switching mutual funds—impact returns. Unlike fund performance reports, QAIB focuses on actual investor outcomes, which often fall short of market benchmarks.
The Monthly Investor Return is an extension of the QAIB Report that examines how current events affect Investor Returns and ultimately how specific investor populations are influenced. The knowledge of how investors are influenced by recent monthly events enable advisors and managers to counsel clients and the public of appropriate actions to take as similar events repeat over time.
Covering the period from December 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025, the study utilizes mutual fund sales, redemptions, and exchanges each month as the measure of investor behavior.
These behaviors reflect the “Average Investor.” Based on this behavior, the analysis calculates the “average investor return” for each month.
These results are then compared to the returns of respective indices.
The Average Equity Fund Investor is comprised of a universe of both domestic and world equity mutual funds. It includes growth, sector, alternative strategy, value, blend, emerging markets, global equity, international equity, and regional equity funds.
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Equity Fund Investor | S&P 500 | Difference | Average Equity Fund Investor | S&P 500 | Difference | |
| January | 3.53% | 2.78% | 0.75% | 0.54% | 1.68% | -1.14% |
| February | -1.45% | -1.30% | -0.15% | 5.06% | 5.34% | -0.28% |
| March | -4.93% | -5.63% | 0.70% | 3.11% | 3.22% | -0.11% |
| April | -0.04% | -0.68% | 0.64% | -4.07% | -4.08% | 0.01% |
| May | 5.96% | 6.29% | -0.33% | 4.30% | 4.96% | -0.66% |
| June | 4.56% | 5.09% | -0.53% | 1.76% | 3.59% | -1.83% |
| July | 1.31% | 2.24% | -0.93% | 1.90% | 1.22% | 0.68% |
| August | 2.43% | 2.03% | 0.40% | 2.31% | 2.43% | -0.12% |
| September | 1.70% | 2.14% | -0.44% | |||
| October | -1.56% | -0.91% | -0.65% | |||
| November | 5.05% | 5.87% | -0.82% | |||
| December | -4.09% | -2.38% | -1.71% | |||
The Average Fixed Income Fund Investor is comprised of a universe of fixed income mutual funds, which includes investment grade, high yield, government, municipal, multi-sector, and global bond funds. It does not include money market funds.
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Fixed Income Fund Investor | Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index | Difference | Average Fixed Income Fund Investor | Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index | Difference | |
| January | 0.44% | 0.53% | -0.09% | -0.21% | -0.27% | 0.06% |
| February | 1.27% | 2.20% | -0.93% | -0.97% | -1.41% | 0.44% |
| March | -0.66% | 0.04% | -0.70% | 0.46% | 0.92% | -0.46% |
| April | -0.15% | 0.39% | -0.54% | -1.98% | -2.53% | 0.55% |
| May | -0.48% | -0.72% | 0.24% | 0.83% | 1.70% | -0.87% |
| June | 1.02% | 1.54% | -0.46% | 0.52% | 0.95% | -0.38% |
| July | -0.38% | -0.26% | -0.12% | 1.54% | 2.34% | -0.80% |
| August | 0.81% | 1.20% | -0.39% | 0.85% | 1.44% | -0.59% |
| September | 0.87% | 1.34% | -0.47% | |||
| October | -2.03% | -2.48% | 0.45% | |||
| November | 0.80% | 1.06% | -0.26% | |||
| December | -1.73% | -1.64% | -0.09% | |||
Your experience matters to us. Help us make QAIB Monthly even better by sharing your thoughts.
Click below to tell us what you think – it only takes a minute!
Thank you for helping us create a portal that works for you.
