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Buy the Dip, Buy the Rise, or Follow a Plan: Which Had the Best Return?

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Buy the Dip, Buy the Rise, or Follow a Plan?

Buy the Dip

This infographic is available as a poster.

Buy the Dip, Buy the Rise, or Follow a Plan?

As performance trends come and go, investors may wonder whether they should adjust their portfolios accordingly. When prices drop, should they buy the dip in anticipation of prices going back up? Conversely, when prices rise, should they buy the rise in case the climb continues?

In this Markets in a Minute from New York Life Investments, we compare these scenarios with following a financial plan to see which one has delivered better returns.

A Tale of Three Portfolios

To evaluate these strategies, we compared the historical performance of three hypothetical portfolios:

  • Buy the dip: 100% of the portfolio was invested in the worst-performing asset class from the prior year.
  • Buy the rise: 100% of the portfolio was invested in the best-performing asset class from the prior year.
  • Follow a plan: A balanced portfolio of 60% U.S. large cap stocks and 40% U.S. investment grade bonds for the entire duration.

We considered 13 asset classes to determine the best and worst-performing assets in each year.

EquitiesFixed IncomeAlternatives
U.S. Large Cap StocksU.S. Taxable Municipal BondsGold
U.S. Small Cap StocksU.S. Investment Grade BondsEquity Real Estate Investment Trusts
Developed Market StocksU.S. High Yield BondsHedge Funds
Emerging Market StocksForeign BondsGlobal Commodities
Cash (U.S. Treasuries)

Four were within the broad category of equities, five were under the fixed income umbrella, and four were alternative investments.

Portfolio Values Over Time

We assumed all three portfolios had the same starting value of $10,000 as of January 1, 2011. Here’s how the year-end values of the portfolios would have changed over the last decade.

Buy the DipBuy the RiseFollow a Plan
2011$10,007$10,893$10,433
2012$11,890$12,076$11,541
2013$11,896$12,421$13,689
2014$11,911$13,137$15,109
2015$7,997$13,509$15,301
2016$8,906$14,674$16,488
2017$8,979$16,616$18,814
2018$9,142$14,368$18,386
2019$10,754$14,685$22,360
2020$10,812$17,387$25,414

The buy the dip portfolio climbed steeply in 2012. Emerging market stocks, the worst-performing asset class in 2011, rebounded the following year with an annual return of 19%. Unfortunately, the buy the dip portfolio saw its value drop significantly in 2015. Global commodities had the worst return two years in a row, returning -33% in 2014 and 2015. Ultimately, the value of the buy the dip portfolio ended close to where it started, with total gains of just $812.

On the other hand, the buy the rise portfolio saw its worst annual performance in 2018. Emerging market stocks had returned an impressive 36% in 2017, but saw losses the following year. The buy the rise portfolio had its best return in 2020, when U.S. large cap stocks continued their upward climb from the year before. By the end of 2020, the buy the dip portfolio saw gains of over $7,000.

Finally, the balanced follow a plan portfolio experienced a small drop in 2018 when U.S. large cap stocks declined. However, it climbed the following two years due to a recovery in U.S. large cap stocks, which was the top-performing asset class in 2019. In the end, the balanced portfolio more than doubled its original value—the best performance of the three portfolios we analyzed.

Risk and Return

Of course, return is only one side of the equation. To properly evaluate all three strategies, investors can consider both risk and return.

Below, we look at how risk and return stacked up for each portfolio over the 10 year period.

Buy the DipBuy the RiseFollow a Plan
Cumulative Return8%74%154%
Min Annual Return-33%-14%-2%
Median Annual Return1%7%11%
Max Annual Return19%18%22%
Standard Deviation14%9%7%

Standard deviation based on annual returns.

Not only did the buy the dip strategy have the lowest cumulative return, it also had the highest risk. For instance, this portfolio experienced the biggest one-year decline of -33%, and had the highest standard deviation of 14%.

In the middle of the pack, the buy the rise portfolio’s worst drawdown was -14% and it had a standard deviation of 9%. Notably, its median annual return of 7% was much higher than that of the buy the dip portfolio.

Lastly, the follow a plan portfolio performed well on all fronts. Compared to the other two portfolios, it had the highest cumulative return and the lowest risk. Over the 10 year period, its worst annual performance was a decline of just -2%.

Buy the Dip: More Effort & More Risk

Notably, there are lots of variables that could affect the results of these strategies.

  • Time period: Are there general market conditions at play? For example, U.S. large cap stocks had a bull market for most of the period we studied, boosting the return of the balanced portfolio.
  • Types of securities: Is the portfolio investing in entire asset classes, or specific companies?
  • Short-term or medium-term movements: Is the portfolio tracking daily dips and rises, or annual dips and rises?

However, based on this set of data, buy the dip and buy the rise strategies have historically had lower returns and higher risk than a balanced portfolio. If the market doesn’t move in the way the investor predicts, this can result in large drops in the portfolio. It also requires more effort to track these trends, and could result in higher fees from more frequent trading.

In contrast, following a balanced portfolio has historically resulted in lower risk and higher returns. By sticking to a plan, investors are also much more likely to be aligned with where they are on the investor lifecycle. This means their investment choices match up with their goals and risk tolerance.

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Markets in a Minute

The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

From retirement plans to bank accounts, we show the percentage of an American’s financial portfolio that is typically held in each account.

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The Average American’s Financial Portfolio by Account Type

Where does the average American put their money? From retirement plans to banks, the typical financial portfolio includes a variety of accounts.

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore what percentage of a person’s money is typically held within each account.

Breaking Down a Typical Financial Portfolio

People put the most money in employer retirement plans, which make up nearly two-fifths of the average financial portfolio. Bank accounts, which include checking, savings, and CDs, hold the second-largest percentage of people’s money.

Account Type% of Financial Portfolio
Employer retirement plan38%
Bank account23%
Brokerage/investment account14%
Traditional IRA10%
Roth IRA7%
Crypto wallet/account4%
Education savings account3%
Other1%

Source: Morningstar Voice of the Investor Report 2024, based on 1,261 U.S. respondents.

Outside of employer retirement plans and bank accounts, the average American keeps nearly 40% of their money in accounts that advisors typically help manage. For instance, people also hold a large portion of their assets in investment accounts and IRAs.

Three pages with data visualizations that are zoomed out so they arent fully readable along with the text

Account Insight for Advisors

Given the large focus on retirement accounts in financial portfolios, advisors can clearly communicate how they will help investors achieve their retirement goals. Notably, Americans say that funding retirement accounts is a top financial goal in the next three years (39% of people), second only to reducing debt (40%).

Americans also say that building an emergency fund is one of their financial goals (35%), which can be supported by the money they hold in bank accounts. However, it can be helpful for advisors to educate clients on the lower return potential of savings accounts and CDs. In comparison, advisors can highlight that investment or retirement accounts can hold assets with more potential for building wealth, like mutual funds or ETFs. With this knowledge in mind, clients will be better able to balance short-term and long-term financial goals.

The survey results also highlight the importance of advisors staying up to date on emerging trends and products. People hold 4% of their money in crypto accounts on average, and nearly a quarter of people said they hold crypto assets like bitcoin. Advisors who educate themselves on these assets can more effectively answer investors’ questions.

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5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Engaged investors review their goals often and are more involved in decisions, but which factors are tied to higher investor engagement?

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Partial bar chart showing the factors linked to higher investor engagement along with a picture of a man looking at a cell phone.

5 Factors Linked to Higher Investor Engagement

Imagine two investors. One investor reviews their investment goals every quarter and actively makes decisions. The second investor hasn’t reviewed their goals in over a year and doesn’t take part in any investment decisions. Are there traits that the first, more involved investor would be more likely to have?

In this graphic from Morningstar, we explore five factors that are associated with high investor engagement.

Influences on Investor Engagement

Morningstar scores their Investor Engagement Index from a low of zero to a high of 100, which indicates full engagement. In their survey, they discovered five traits that are tied to higher average engagement levels among investors.

FactorInvestor Engagement Index Score (Max = 100)
Financial advisor relationshipDon’t work with financial advisor: 63
Work with financial advisor: 70
Sustainability alignmentNo actions/alignment: 63
Some/full alignment: 74
Trust in AILow trust: 61
High trust: 74
Risk toleranceConservative: 62
Aggressive: 76
Comfort making investment decisionsLow comfort: 42
High comfort: 76

Morningstar’s Investor Engagement Index is equally weighted based on retail investors’ responses to seven questions: feeling informed about composition and performance of investments, frequency of investment portfolio review, involvement in investment decision-making, understanding of investment concepts and financial markets, frequency of goals review, clarity of investment strategy aligning to long-term goals, and frequency of engagement in financial education activities.

Three pages with data visualizations that are zoomed out so they arent fully readable along with the text

On average, people who work with financial advisors, have sustainability alignment, trust AI, and have a high risk tolerance are more engaged.

The starkest contrast was that people with high comfort making investment decisions have engagement levels that are nearly two times higher than those with low comfort. In fact, people with a high comfort level were significantly more likely to say they were knowledgeable about the composition and performance of their investments (84%) vs. those with low comfort (18%).

Personalizing Experiences Based on Engagement

Advisors can consider adjusting their approach depending on an investor’s engagement level. For example, if a client has an aggressive risk tolerance this may indicate the client is more engaged. Based on this, the advisor could check if the client would prefer more frequent portfolio reviews.

On the other hand, soft skills can play a key role for those who are less engaged. People with low comfort making investment decisions indicated that the top ways their financial advisor provides value is through optimizing for growth and risk management (62%), making them feel more secure about their financial future (38%), and offering peace of mind and relief from the stress of money management (30%).

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