--- title: Successful Investors Keep the Faith - Burney Investment Management description: "“Keep the faith!” Long-term clients have surely seen or heard this phrase from us in a blog post or in a quarterly letter or in a meeting. It is a favorite saying of ours because it is simple advice that leads to very real value for any investor, whether a client or not. Source: Carl ..." image: https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Successful-Investors-Keep-the-Faith.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/successful-investors-keep-the-faith#main-content) [![Burney Investment Management](https://burneyinvest.com/hs-fs/hubfs/theme/Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png?width=300&height=110&name=Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png "Burney Investment Management")](https://burneyinvest.com/) - About - [Company Overview](https://burneyinvest.com/about) - [Burney Difference](https://burneyinvest.com/the-burney-difference) - Strategies - [Size & Style Responsive](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/size-style-responsive-ssr/) - [The Burney Master Portfolio](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/the-burney-master-portfolio/) - [Personalized Portfolios](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/personalized-portfolios/) - [Stock Selection](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/stock-selection/) - [Team](https://burneyinvest.com/team) - [Resources](https://burneyinvest.com/blog) - [Get In Touch](https://burneyinvest.com/contact) 9.8.2017 # Successful Investors Keep the Faith [Andy Pratt, CFA](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/author/andy-pratt-cfa) ![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/dots_y4.svg) ##### Popular Posts [How to Read VIX and VIX Term Structure](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/how-to-read-vix-and-vix-term-spread) [What Happened in the Stock Market Yesterday?](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/what-happened-in-the-stock-market-yesterday) [Performance Matters - 7 Steps Toward More Effective Investing](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/performance-matters-7-steps-toward-more-effective-investing) ![](https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Successful-Investors-Keep-the-Faith.jpg) “Keep the faith!” Long-term clients have surely seen or heard this phrase from us in a blog post or in a quarterly letter or in a meeting. It is a favorite saying of ours because it is simple advice that leads to very real value for any investor, whether a client or not. ![030314bucks carl sketch jumbo](https://static.hsstatic.net/BlogImporterAssetsUI/ex/missing-image.png)Source: Carl Richards, [The Best Investment Strategy? Getting Out of Our Own Way](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/your-money/stocks-and-bonds/the-best-investment-strategy-getting-out-of-our-own-way.html?mcubz=0) Study after study shows that investors consistently underperform market indexes. [The Dalbar Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior](http://www.qidllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2016-Dalbar-QAIB-Report.pdf) found that the average equity mutual fund investor underperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 4% and that the average fixed income mutual fund investor underperformed the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index by about the same amount. [Morningstar found that investors underperformed](http://beta.morningstar.com/articles/637022/mind-the-gap-2014.html) relevant benchmarks across all types of asset classes with an average annual underperformance of 2.5% over a 10-year period. Money moved out of equity mutual funds in 2009, at the bottom of the market, and flew back in to equity mutual funds in 2013, after a huge, 30%+ year for stocks. Sell low, buy high. [Vanguard studied investor behavior in their IRA accounts during the Financial Crisis and its aftermath](https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/s801.pdf) finding that investors who made just one move lagged the Vanguard asset allocation benchmark by 104 basis points, or 1.04%, while investors who stuck it out beat the same benchmark by 33 basis points. The common theme is that investors underperform and they do this largely because of self-inflicted, easy to make mistakes that are ingrained in the human psyche. From an evolutionary standpoint, we are [hardwired to feel the pain from losses more than joy from gains](http://www.investopedia.com/university/behavioral_finance/behavioral11.asp) and, while this kept our hunter and gatherer ancestors alive, it leads to bad investment behavior. Like the investors who ran out of stocks in 2009 and piled back in during 2013, the same thing happens when active managers underperform. Eighty five percent of the best investment managers [underperformed over a three year-year period, often substantially,](http://www.aaii.com/journal/article/the-truth-about-top-performing-mutual-fund-managers.mobile)despite ultimately delivering top 90th percentile performance. Successful active strategies should be expected to underperform for sometimes long periods of time and we, as investors, must realize ahead of time that it will be very difficult to keep the faith during these times but that keeping the faith is our best chance at realizing the long-term returns of the strategy. Otherwise, it is all too easy to fall prey to the [Behavior Gap](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/your-money/stocks-and-bonds/the-best-investment-strategy-getting-out-of-our-own-way.html?mcubz=0). --- *The Burney Company is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Burney Wealth Management is a division of the Burney Company. Registration with the SEC or any state securities authority does not imply that Burney Company or any of its principals or employees possesses a particular level of skill or training in the investment advisory business or any other business. Burney Company does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice, but offers it through third parties. Before making any financial decisions, clients should consult their legal and/or tax advisors.* ## Articles you may enjoy 03.21.14 #### [Welcome to the Burney Blog!](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/welcom-to-the-burney-blog) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/welcom-to-the-burney-blog) 05.07.14 #### [For long-term investors, stocks come with higher returns and lower risks](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/long-term-investing) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/long-term-investing) 02.02.17 #### [Dynamic Correlation: Implications for Asset Allocation](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/dynamic-correlation-implications-for-asset-allocation) [![](https://20453469.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20453469/Theme/circle_right.svg)](https://burneyinvest.com/blog/dynamic-correlation-implications-for-asset-allocation) ![](https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/theme/burney-invest-logo-white-1-1.png) - [Size & Style Responsive](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/size-style-responsive-ssr/) - [Burney Master Portfolio](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/the-burney-master-portfolio/) - [Personalized Portfolios](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/personalized-portfolios/) - [Stock Selection](https://burneyinvest.com/strategies/stock-selection/) - [About](https://burneyinvest.com/about) - [Team](https://burneyinvest.com/team) - [Resources](https://burneyinvest.com/blog) - [Contact](https://burneyinvest.com/contact) **Headquarters** 1800 Alexander Bell Dr. STE 510 Reston, VA 20191 Advisory services are offered through the Burney Company, an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission nor does it indicate that the advisor has attained a particular level of skill or ability. © 2026 Burney Wealth Management | [Research](https://burneyinvest.com/research) | [Privacy Statement](https://burneyinvest.com/privacy-policy) | [Terms & Conditions](https://burneyinvest.com/terms-and-conditions) | [Disclosures](https://burneyinvest.com/disclosures) | [ADV](https://44214779.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44214779/Burney%20Company%20ADV%20Part%202A%20IM%2026%20REV.pdf) | [Form CRS (ADV Part 3)](https://44214779.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44214779/Burney%20Company%20Form%20CRS_March%202026.pdf) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Andy Pratt, CFA", "url" : "https://burneyinvest.com/blog/author/andy-pratt-cfa" }, "dateModified" : "2024-04-03T00:34:52.619Z", "datePublished" : "2017-09-08T17:09:24.000Z", "headline" : "Successful Investors Keep the Faith - Burney Investment Management", "image" : [ "https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Successful-Investors-Keep-the-Faith.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://burneyinvest.com/blog/successful-investors-keep-the-faith", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://burneyinvest.com/hubfs/theme/Burney_Invest_Color_Horizontal_%232b.png" } } } ```