Articles from Index Fund Advisors, Inc.

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Inferential Statistics: What 98 Years of Monthly Returns Can—and Cannot—Tell Investors

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by Mark Hebner Thursday, September 24, 2026

Understand why analyzing 98 years of market history improves return estimates but doesn't eliminate risk or predict future outcomes with certainty.

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Discover how investment costs impact your returns more than market movements, as explained by Vanguard founder John Bogle.

John Bogle's Cost Matters Hypothesis

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by Mark Hebner — Thursday, September 17, 2026

Investors cannot control what markets will return. They can exert meaningful control over many of the costs they pay to capture those returns. John Bogle argued that this simple fact may be more important than any theory about whether markets are perfectly efficient. … Read More

Discover how evidence-based strategies, diversification, and discipline lie at the heart of David Booth's timeless investment philosophy in "Stay Calm."

Stay Calm, Tune Out the Noise, Invest and Relax

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by Mark Hebner — Wednesday, September 16, 2026

David Booth's new book reinforces an investment philosophy that Index Fund Advisors has taught since 1999: accept uncertainty, trust market prices, diversify broadly, follow the evidence, and stop trying to predict what cannot be predicted. … Read More

New research evaluates whether retail investors truly benefit from access to private equity and alternative assets. Find out the surprising results.

Who Actually Gains When Private Markets Open to Retail Investors

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by Robin Powell — Tuesday, September 15, 2026

New research evaluates whether retail investors truly benefit from access to private equity and alternative assets. Find out the surprising results. … Read More

Explore why chasing certainty in small cap value stocks often backfires and how timing mistakes can derail your long-term financial goals.

The Small Cap Value Premium Kept Changing Its Answer

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by Robin Powell — Tuesday, September 01, 2026

The small cap value premium re-emerged in 2026. Then it went away again. Then it came back. Anyone holding out for the numbers to settle first was holding out for something short-run returns never do. Look at what your portfolio told you about the small cap value premium this … Read More

Explore the history of index funds, from John Bogle's "folly" to the rise of Vanguard 500 ETF as a global investment powerhouse.

Fifty Years of "Bogle's Folly"

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by Mark Hebner — Monday, August 31, 2026

On August 31, 1976, a small mutual fund called First Index Investment Trust began operations. It aimed to raise between $50 million and $150 million in its initial underwriting. It raised a little more than $11 million — “an abject failure,” in John Bogle’s own blunt assessment. Critics called it … Read More

IFA's ongoing research series examines the banker's actively managed mutual funds.

Morgan Stanley: A Deeper Look at Performance

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by Jesse Fulton — Monday, August 31, 2026

IFA's ongoing research series examines the banker's actively managed mutual funds. … Read More

Investigate concerns related to style drift in American Funds portfolios and its impact on long-term benchmarking and asset allocation strategies.

American Funds: A Deeper Look at the Performance

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by Mark Hebner — Friday, August 28, 2026

The Mutual Fund Alpha Charts shown below compare 37 different American Funds, all A Shares, (see trading symbols just above the chart) to their Morningstar analyst-designated benchmark. … Read More

A sound evidence-based investment process needs to consider how market volatility can be used to reduce your taxes through tax-loss harvesting.

Tax-Loss Harvesting: Taking Advantage of Opportunities

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by Jesse Fulton — Monday, August 24, 2026

A sound evidence-based investment process needs to consider how market volatility can be used to reduce your taxes. … Read More

In this study, we compare DFA's funds to those from the investment shop that John Bogle built.

Vanguard Vs. Dimensional: A Practical View

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by Mark Hebner — Friday, August 21, 2026

In this study, we compare DFA's funds to those from the investment shop that John Bogle built. … Read More

A DAF can be a tax-efficient and less-complex tool to accomplish your philanthropic goals. Here's what to consider.

Is a Donor Advised Fund Right for You?

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by Jesse Fulton — Wednesday, August 19, 2026

A DAF can be a tax-efficient and less-complex tool to accomplish your philanthropic goals. Here's what to consider. … Read More

Discover the story of Thomas Bayes, his groundbreaking theorem, and its profound impact on probability theory and modern investing.

The Minister's Manuscript | Thomas Bayes (PoP EP11)

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by Claude Hebner | IFA.com — Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Discover the story of Thomas Bayes, his groundbreaking theorem, and its profound impact on probability theory and modern investing. … Read More

Discover how a coding error undermined claims that AI could pick winning mutual funds, reshaping expectations for machine learning in finance.

Can AI Pick Winning Mutual Funds? What a Coding Error Revealed

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by Robin Powell — Monday, August 17, 2026

A study once claimed machine learning could pick winning mutual funds. It turned out the model had accidentally been given a preview of the future — take that away, and the result vanishes. Professional investment consultants have not consistently demonstrated an ability to spot winning fund managers in advance, and … Read More

Learn why infinite expected value doesn't hold up in real life, and how Bernoulli's utility theory reshaped probability and rational decision-making.

The Logarithm of Wealth | Daniel Bernoulli (PoP EP10)

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by Claude Hebner | IFA.com — Monday, August 10, 2026

Learn why infinite expected value doesn’t hold up in real life, and how Bernoulli's utility theory reshaped probability and rational decision-making. … Read More

Discover how just 46 companies generated half of the U.S. stock market's $91 trillion in shareholder wealth over the past century.

Stock Market Concentration Has Accelerated - Here's What the New Data Shows

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by Robin Powell — Friday, August 07, 2026

Discover how just 46 companies generated half of the U.S. stock market's $91 trillion in shareholder wealth over the past century. … Read More

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