| 31 July 2009

According to a survey conducted by Kelton Research and funded by Charles Schwab (SCHW) only 39 percent of mutual fund investors made any changes to their portfolio since the markets started to decline roughly two years ago. Only 45 percent of those surveyed said they became more knowledgeable about their investments.

"It’s natural to feel anxious and unsure about how to get back on track," said Peter Crawford, a Senior Vice President at Schwab. "It’s all right to feel that way, but it is not all right to disengage as a way to deal with those feelings."

We agree. You would think market turmoil would have all investors on edge. But apparently mutual fund investors -- which, after all, make up a majority of individual investors -- prefer to stay hands-off.

While the survey didn't say why this was this case, we can only assume that some of those investors thought the damage was just too painful to witness first-hand. In fact, fully 36 percent of those surveyed didn't even know which mutual funds they owned!