Focus on low-cost equity mutual funds has increased dramatically in the past decade. While cost matters, mutual funds, much like other goods and services, should be evaluated based on what investors get for the price they pay. Indeed, few people start shopping for a car by asking, “What’s the cheapest car I can get?”

The last eight years have been a good period for equity investing. But can it last? As the old saying goes, “Markets climb a wall of worry.” There is certainly plenty to worry about: looming market corrections, elections in Europe, and political uncertainty.

When the equity market sets a new all-time high, many people become anxious about what will happen next. It turns out that new market peaks are common, occurring 1,144 times from January 3, 1928 through May 31, 2017, or once a month on average.

The Active Equity Renaissance is a series of posts by AthenaInvest's Founder and CIO, C. Thomas Howard, PhD, and Jason A. Voss, CFA, retired co-Portfolio Manager of the Davis Appreciation and Income Fund. It proposes an alternative to modern portfolio theory (MPT), and pokes holes in MPT’s underlying assumptions. Ways to improve active management returns are discussed throughout.

Read the Series on Enterprising Investor