Yes, the past decade of 2000s didn’t treat investors well. If you invested in the DJIA, you lost 9% for the decade. a S&P 500 investor lost 24%. and a NASDAQ investor lost 44%, thanks to the fact that we started the decade at the height of the dot com bubble.

All the above figures are absolute, un-annualized returns. That is, your original 10,000 dollar investment will end up at approximately $9,100, $7,600, and $5,600 respectively.

But how about losing at an annualized rate of 37% a year for 10 years?

That’s what Frontier MicroCap (FEFPX) has managed to treat its investors. If your crystal ball had guided you to the fund back in 2000, every $10,000 of your original investment have become, well, 98 cents.

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Losing 37% a Year for 10 Years Straight

The Psy-Fi Blog: Depressed Investors Donâ??t Need Feedback. Everyone Else Does.

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The Psy-Fi Blog: Depressed Investors Don’t Need Feedback. Everyone Else Does.

The suit generated tremendous debate among general partners (who manage the funds), limited partners (who provide the funds) and the public. not surprisingly, general partners were most opposed to more disclosure. they feared that a public familiar with measuring returns on stocks or other liquid assets on a quarter-by-quarter basis would attempt to do the same for illiquid, long-lived private-equity assets. Early returns tend to be negative; it’s as companies grow over time that positive returns are realized. even for the same investment, assessments of value can differ widely across funds. furthermore, the insistence on quarter-by-quarter reporting could cause investors to focus more on the short term and therefore defeat the purpose of investing over a longer horizon. Limited partners were more open to greater disclosure and in fact desired greater accountability from general partners, but they, too, feared that the public would misinterpret the returns. because limited partners get information about investments from general partners, it was mainly the public that was in the dark about performance.

At first blush, the newspaper’s request seems quite reasonable. But let’s consider what disclosure means in the context of investment returns. taken to its logical extreme, the concept of market efficiency and transparency could significantly reduce the potential to earn the above-market returns that had attracted pension funds to invest in private equity in the first place. in the current low interest rate environment, and with many state pensions underfunded, retirees and taxpayers alike will rely on investments with the potential for higher returns.

The resolution: in November 2002, a court ruled against CalPERS and required it to disclose the returns on its investments in private equity. the court, however, stopped short of requiring that the individual portfolio company holdings and their associated values be made public. those were deemed “trade secrets” and could remain private.

Lesson: As private equity becomes a larger force in the economy, it is reasonable to expect more information be disclosed about performance. Yet as the CalPERS case illustrates, there are limits to how much disclosure benefits the public. a balance must be struck between the public’s right to know and the industry’s ability to earn high returns.

— Susan Chaplinsky

Chaplinsky is a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/private-equity-vs-public-right-to-know/2012/04/14/gIQAH6EPIT_story.html?tid=pm_business_poptag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/private-equity-vs-public-right-to-know/2012/04/14/gIQAH6EPIT_story.html?tid=pm_business_popSun, 15 Apr 2012 14:28:42 GMT”>Private equity and the public's right to know

This huge commission for dealing fees is passed on to investors, but is excluded from the overall cost of funds for comparison.

Investors lose ?2.7bn in hidden fees for buying and selling shares in investment funds

Fund investing helps many small investors strike it rich. Find out what funds are, how to invest, and how to save money through a fund supermarket

How to invest in funds | unit trusts, oeics and investment trusts

Mad Money host Jim Cramer lays out next week’s game plan for investors, ahead of big earnings, economic data, and uncertainty in Europe.

Cramer’s Game Plan for Next Week

If you?ve been following the market, you know that it?s resembled a wild roller coaster ride. Although selling in May was exactly the right move, when to get back in is less certain, writes Michael sincere.

Michael Sincere’s Rookie Trader: 4 defensive strategies for anxious investors

The Growth versus Value Debate

Investors and money managers who seek out growth stocks are generally looking for quality companies with higher than average earnings growth rates, regardless of what the current market valuation of the stock is.

By comparison, investors and money managers who advocate value investing typically buy shares of stock in companies that have been beaten down in price because they are going through a period of adversity. Value investing usually calls for selling these shares after they have risen in price as a result of the underlying company having recovered from its difficulty.

Growth stocks can fall in share price and become value stocks. Value stocks can rise in price and become growth stocks. It is a never ending cycle of ups and downs. Money mangers and investors alike have their own methodology for determining if a stock is value or growth. in fact, two different money managers may classify the same stock as both growth and value.

As for what style is better, there are reams of research which can illustrate what strategy has achieved the highest rate of return. What you?ll find is that both styles come in and out of favor and most money managers can?t predict with any certainty which will outperform the other.

Bill Losey’s National Retirement Planning Month – Retirement Tip #77

I got the following questions emailed to me:

are the main questions we should ask of the RSP or real estate provider?

how do we know they  are honest?how do we know the property is really going to yield 6-7 %?1) All the questions that I list on how to choose the right 1031 exchange firm (link) are questions you should ask the real estate firm, other investors and folks like your CPA, CFA.  for your CFA, ask if they have any biases, commissions,etc. Often the CFA is recieving a 5% commission to introduce you to a firm2) how do you know they are honest?  This is a tough one.  asking prior investors is the best way to tell.  also, take a look at their fee structure.  If their fee structure is egregious (ie greater than 15% of equity rolled in) it’s a sure sign that the firm is trying to make a quick buck.  you can also ask a a lawyer or friend who is a lawyer to take a quick look to see if the ceo of the organization or the organization itself has ever been sued3) how do you know you will get the promised yield?  most offerings have a triplenet lease which is a contract guaranteeing the return.  to make sure that the firm lives up to the guarantee, ask if there has ever been a capital call.  also, look to see how aggressive the loan agreement is.  If it’s a variable, interest only loan, you might ask how the firm is going to continue its cash yield commitments when interest rates rise and principal needs to paid back.To better serve you, we’re looking to launch a feedback project on 1031 service providers (find out more link) .  If you think this would be valuable, please post  comment or email us at nesteggemail@gmail.com

How do you know a 1031 TIC Exchange Firm is Honest?

Lower tax rates may not get the economy back on track again. But they may spare investors from a nasty little sell-off at the end of the month.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus rally