IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Buffett Has Big Lead in Stock Bet vs. Experts

<p>Buffett put his money behind his long-held argument that "experts" don't do better than the stock market as a whole.</p>
Warren Buffett has a big lead in a bet that tests whether a low-fee stock index fund does better than experts over 10 years.
Why is this man smiling? Warren Buffett has a big lead in a bet that tests whether a low-fee stock index fund does better than experts over 10 years.REBECCA COOK / Reuters
/ Source: CNBC.com

With four years remaining, Warren Buffett has a commanding lead in a decade-long bet that put a low-fee stock index fund up against a portfolio of high-priced hedge funds.

Buffett put his money behind his long-held argument that "experts" don't do better than the stock market as a whole. It's the basis of his argument that the fees "helpers" charge investors usually aren't justified.

In a Fortune piece, long-time Buffett friend Carol Loomis writes that after six years the fund Buffett selected for the wager, the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares, was up 43.8 percent at the end of 2013.

The other side of the bet is a collection of five hedge funds of funds chosen by New York-based Protégé Partners.

After all fees, their average gain was about 12.5 percent. The names of the funds have not been revealed.