On my trading platform (brokerage account) I have that performance screen where you can see how your portfolio stacks up against the major indexes. I noticed the Russell Index killing it lately, so back in Q3 2025 I put some of my 401k funds into a Russell fund. To say it has sucked is an understatement. How TF is the index killing it vs. S&P and Dow, but this fund based on it (BSMKS) so terrible? It's the only Russell option my 401k offers.
I am an amateur investor, so be gentle, and ELI5. Why is there such an enormous performance gap from what I see in my brokerage platform and the performance of this index fund based on it? What am I missing here?
Russell 2000 Index confusion between performance of index vs. fund based on it?
byu/Agreeable_Bear6812 ininvesting
Posted by Agreeable_Bear6812
3 Comments
I’m having a hard time finding the fund you are describing? Do you have a link to it on Morningstar or something?
The Russell 2000 had a brief moment during a “junk rally” where it performed very well, especially relative to other small cap indexes like the SP600.
BSMKX is a great fund if you want small and mid cap exposure. It also pairs well with an SP500 or US Large cap fund. Year to date it is up 11%.
It looks fairly close to the index? Within 1-2% for YTD and last month. Possibly what happened is that you peeked at the Russell index at the tail end of the historic rally in 2025, and since then performance has been more uneven. If u bought in in late October you should still be up 9% or so tho? Which is roughly the average expected annual gain.