The gap between the 20-year S&P 500 return and the average equity fund investor return expanded in 2013

The gap between the 20-year S&P 500 return and the average equity fund investor return expanded in 2013. This was the first gap expansion since 2010 and only the 3rd in 10 years. The S&P 500 return increased from 8.21% to 9.22% in 2013 while the average equity fund investor return increased from 4.25% to only 5.02%. This resulted in the gap widening from -3.96% to -4.20%. In 2013, the long-term return of the S&P is nearly double that of the average equity mutual fund investor (9.22% vs. 5.02%). The silver lining is that despite this gap, things are a whole lot better for investors than they used to be. In 1999 the long-term annualized return of the equity market was 2.5 times that of the average equity mutual fund investor (18.01% vs. 7.23%) Source: Dalbar