Investors missing market days during custodian transfers face equal odds of avoiding losses or gains, muting timing effects on performance.
Transferring retirement accounts between custodians like TIAA and Fidelity does not significantly alter long-term investment returns. Market volatility, measured by the VIX ranging from 13.47 to 31.05 recently, shows investors are as likely to miss down days as up days during transfers.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has risen 8.86% year-to-date and 26.49% over the past year. Historical data suggests markets trend upward roughly 75% of the time, whether measured monthly or annually, reducing the impact of short-term transfer windows.
Investor anxiety over missing market movements during transfers is often misplaced, as the odds of avoiding losses mirror those of missing gains.