How does the performance of portfolio advisory service compare with that of self-directed accounts?
Some individual investors, those who have experience, time, access to information, and necessary temperament, are highly successful in directing their own trading. The record suggests that only a small percentage of “do-it-yourself” traders possess these requisites for success. Studies indicate that somewhere between 65 and 90 percent lose money. However, of the 119 funds and pools in the Portfolio Advisory ServicesReports Fund/Pool Qualified Universe Index that traded from January 1990 through October 1996, 81% were profitable over the full time period.
