Hey Reader

A few years ago, I put a small portion of my investment funds into an automated investing platform where a robo-advisor manages a diverse portfolio of index funds for you. I didn’t fully trust it but was curious and could see the potential upside. Maybe their algorithm can do a better job than me plus its hands off, so I don’t have to track it closely.

After one year I pulled everything out.

My primary portfolio was up for the year. The robo-advisor was down. That was enough for me.

Now to be fair, one year is a small sample size and that doesn’t mean the platform isn’t good or hasn’t produced good results for others. It just wasn’t for me. And it confirmed what I already knew. Nobody cares about your money more than you do.

To be clear, I’m specifically talking about stock portfolio management here, not financial planning, estate work, or tax strategy where professional expertise genuinely matters. This applies to human advisors and brokers too, not just automated platforms.

The primary issue is many financial advisors are compensated through management fees and commissions, not simply by how well your portfolio performs. That means your best interest and theirs isn’t always aligned. Even the ones who are incentivized by performance still charge fees and don’t have the same personal stake in your financial future that you do.

The data backs this up.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, 67% of U.S. large-cap fund managers underperformed the S&P 500 in the first half of 2026, and that was considered a relatively good period for active managers. Extend that over a 20-year period and 93% of actively managed funds underperformed the index. This isn’t just a one off. It’s a 20-year pattern and you’re paying a fee for the privilege of underperforming.

What the data also tells us is the average person can beat the professionals by simply investing in the S&P 500 and staying the course. That’s not complicated to do.

Now, financial advisors do have their place. For someone with no interest in learning to invest or who simply doesn’t want to manage their own portfolio, working with the right advisor can make sense. But the bar for what they need to deliver is higher than most people realize. For the average investor who is willing to put in a little time, managing your own stock portfolio is a very real and often better option.

The most powerful thing I’ve learned is that investing doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. A simple S&P 500 index fund has outperformed most professionals for two decades running. That’s not a secret. It’s just not something the financial services industry has much incentive to advertise.

Next week in part two I’ll cover another piece of conventional investing advice I don’t follow and why the math behind it is more complicated than most people realize.

— Stock Savvy Dad
​Invest smarter, build wealth, be a savvy dad.