SigFig Data Highlights: 2015 Year in Review
Performance and Investor Behavior
In 2015, most investors lost money and underperformed the markets 72% of investors had negative or zero 12-month return. In 2014, 30% of investors did. While the S&P 500 and a 60/40 balanced portfolio had 12-month returns of 0.4% and -0.3% respectively, the median investor lost 2.6% 72% Zero or negative returns 28% Positive returns 12-month Median Return 0.4% -0.3% -2.6% S&P 500 60/40 Balanced Median Investor Returns are net of fees and include dividends. Time period is 12 months ending 12/31/2015. For S&P 500, VTI is used, and for 60/40 Balanced, VBINX is used.
Overall, women investors outperformed men One possible cause: men turned over their portfolios 44% more than women 2015 Median Return 2015 Median Portfolio Turnover -2.2% -2.5% 13% 9% Women Men Women Men Returns are net of fees and include dividends. Time period is 12 months ending 12/31/2015.
In general, higher portfolio turnover predicts poorer returns 12-month Median Return -1.8% -2.1% -5.6% > 0 and <= 10% 10-100% 100%+ 12-month Portfolio Turnover as % of Portfolio Value Returns are net of fees and include dividends. Time period is 12 months ending 12/31/2015.
Men and women gravitate towards certain stocks or industries, but not always as expected 13x 1.4x 1.3x 1.2x 1.1x 1x 1.1x 1.2x 1.3x More Likely Women More Likely Men Each stock owned by at least 100 investors.
During the August 2015 correction, investors who reacted the most also had the worst returns 76% % of Investors 18% 3% 3% Did Nothing Sold < 10% Sold 10-30% Sold 30%+ 12-month Median Return -2.8% -2.3% -3.1% -4.9% Returns are net of fees and include dividends. Time period is 12 months ending 12/31/2015.
Inequality
How wealthy are the wealthiest investors? If wealth were equally distributed, the average investor would have $445K 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% In reality, the distribution of wealth is highly skewed 0.7% 85% 11% 3% 1% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% The wealthiest 25% have 85% of investments or $1.6 million on average The poorest 25% have 0.7% of investments or $4,600 on average
The wealthiest 50% own 97% of all investments 100% The wealthiest 50% of all investors own 97% of investments 75% % of Total Investments 50% The wealthiest 10% of all investors own 67% of investments Perfect Equality 25% The wealthiest 1% of all investors own 28% of investments 0% Wealthiest Poorest 1 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 82 91 100 Investor Wealth Percentiles
The wealthiest 1% have 145X the assets $14,000K The wealthiest 1% have $12 million invested on average of the median investor Average Assets in 000s of Dollars $10,500K $7,000K $3,500K The wealthiest 10% have $1 million invested on average The median investor has $83K invested The poorest 10% have less than $2,200 invested on average $0K Wealthiest Poorest 1 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 82 91 100 Investor Wealth Percentiles
Millennials have the most unequal wealth distribution 100% % of Total Investments 75% 50% Among millennials, 18% of investors own 75% of all assets. Among 50+ investors, 27% own 75% of all assets Perfect Equality 20-34 35-49 50+ 25% 0% Wealthiest Poorest 1 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 82 91 100 Investor Wealth Percentiles
The poorest are significantly more likely to be paying higher investment fees 21.0% % of ETF investors who pay more than 0.5% in ETF expenses 9.0% % of Mutual Fund investors who pay more than 5% in load fees % of Investors 21% % of Investors 9% 11% 3% 0.0% Wealthiest 25% Poorest 25% 0.0% Wealthiest 25% Poorest 25%
About SigFig SigFig s mission is to help people invest better. SigFig is a robo-advisor that intelligently and automatically diversifies and rebalances investments in a tax-efficient manner, while minimizing fees and performing tax loss harvesting. SigFig is also the largest portfolio syncing platform in the world, helping everyday investors track over $375B in assets. About this Report The analysis in this report is based on data aggregated and anonymized from 360,000 investors who have synced their portfolios with SigFig. Technical details are available upon request. Contact Information For more information, email insights@sigfig.com or call (415) 558-9611 Disclaimers Data is based on aggregated anonymized data representing SigFig users unless otherwise noted. Results are net of all management fees and expenses unless otherwise noted. Performance data includes reinvestment of dividends and interest unless otherwise noted. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Direct comparisons between performance and equity market indices are not without complications. The indices may be unmanaged, may be market weighted, and unlike advisory clients, indices do not incur fees and expenses.