Core Insights - The number of stock and bond funds has decreased by 1,651 over the past decade, indicating significant consolidation in the market [1][5] - Lower fees are increasingly contributing to outperformance in investments, making expense ratios a critical factor for investors when selecting funds [2][3] - The trend of falling average expense ratios, which are now over 50% cheaper for stock and bond mutual funds and ETFs, has been a dominant investment trend for the last 25 years [3] Fund Performance and Selection - Fee differences are becoming more significant in explaining performance margins between funds, suggesting that expenses should be a top consideration for investors [2] - DIY investors tend to be more cost-conscious, while casual investors may not thoroughly research fund options, relying instead on recommendations [4] - A fund with a 1% fee must outperform one with a 0.50% fee by more than half a percent to be considered a better investment [4] Market Dynamics - The net loss in stock and bond fund volumes is nearing levels not seen since the Great Recession, with the remaining funds generally being older and newer funds underperforming [5] - Newer funds are struggling to keep pace with older funds before fees, which may indicate a lack of new fund launches and increased competition among higher-performing funds [6]

You can find original article here WealthManagement. Subscribe to our free daily WealthManagement newsletters. Stock and bond funds with lower fees are outperforming their more expensive category peers, according to new research from Morningstar. Over the past decade, the return difference between the cheapest and priciest funds in these sectors has reached over 2 percentage points, noted Jeffrey Ptak, managing director at Morningstar Research Services, who conducted the research  Ptak looked at ho ...

Bitcoin entered a bear market in November. - Getty Images/iStock After touching record highs earlier this year, bitcoin and many major cryptocurrencies fell into a bear market in November. Prices of bitcoin BTCUSD were at $92,000, and prices for ether ETHUSD were hovering just under $3,200 as of Thursday. This drop may have investors wondering if they should rethink how much of their individual portfolios should be in the digital assets. Most Read from MarketWatch Edward Hadad, a financial planner at F ...