Despite the market’s lousy historical track record for Septembers and an ominous start—500 Index (VFIAX) fell 2.1% on its first trading day—the fund ended the month with a 2.1% gain. However, here’s the 500 Index stat that jumps out at me: the flagship index fund is up 36.3% over the past year.
To put that 36.3% gain in context, it is roughly triple the index fund’s average 12-month return (12.7%) since its 1976 inception. 500 Index has only notched a better return 6% of the time.
Having risen so far, so fast, you may be asking if you’ve missed the boat.