[quote=ucodegen][quote=CA renter]Half of the population has an IQ under 100. I do not think that DIY investing is going to work out for the long-term for most people, whether or not they are blessed enough to be born with a greater intellect. Centrally-managed retirement funds do work when they are managed conservatively and transparently. I’ll be the first to admit that this is not the case at many public pension funds, but that can be changed if there is enough political will.[/quote]This is why I believe in giving people the option to go it alone if they wish.. or a percentage of managed and self directed. If a fund manager manages to consistently out perform me.. I’ll let him invest my funds, otherwise I’ll do it. I’ll also let those I know, who might not be as good at investing, that they may want to look for another manager.

[quote=CA renter]Transparency and accountability are imperative in all markets, public and private, IMHO. If we make the system transparent enough, and if we hold people accountable, it can absolutely work.[/quote]
True, but it is an impossible goal to achieve absolutely, this is not to say you can get close. After all, you need one of those ‘specialists’ to be able to understand what they are seeing under that transparency and to tell if it is truly transparant. The problem is that firms hire specialists that don’t spill the beans and pay them handsomely. This creates a disincentive. One way to tell is by comparing performance. If I am consistently outperforming a fund as a ‘part-timer’.. there may be something up. I always believe in giving people the option of choice. Lock-in always prevents transparency and accountability. All that the fund managers have to do is compromise audit and enforcement. It does happen and more than many people know. If a person has choice.. they can always ‘leave’ the fund that is not being transparent and if that happens in droves, it starves the fund, effectively becoming its own form of enforcement.[/quote]

While I personally agree with this option, the funds’ ability to outperform (at the very least, not under-perform) the market over the long run is tied to their ability to withstand the inevitable downturns because of their long-term horizon and locked-in funds. It would harm their ability to do this if people were able to pull money out of the funds during the downturns, and then put it back in when the funds perform better.