Average Annual Return - AAR

Filed Under » ,
Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Average Annual Return - AAR'

A percentage figure used when reporting the historical return, such as the three-, five- and 10-year average returns of a mutual fund. The average annual return is stated net of a fund's operating expense ratio, which does not include sales charges, if applicable, or portfolio transaction brokerage commissions.
Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Average Annual Return - AAR'

When you are selecting a mutual fund, the average annual return is a helpful guide for measuring a fund's long-term performance. However, investors should also look at a fund's yearly performance to fully appreciate the consistency of its annual total returns. For example, a five-year average annual return of 10% looks attractive; however, if the yearly returns (those that produced the average annual return) were +40%, +30%, -10%, +5% and -15% (50 / 5 = 10%), the fund's recent performance (past three years) is absolutely awful. 

Related Definitions

  • 12B-1 Fee

    An annual marketing or distribution fee on a mutual fund. The 12b-1 fee is considered an operational expense and, as such, is included in a fund's expense ratio. It is generally between ...
    Read More »
  • Mutual Fund

    An investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and ...
    Read More »
  • Survivorship Bias

    The tendency for mutual funds with poor performance to be dropped by mutual fund companies, generally because of poor results or low asset accumulation. This phenomenon, which is ...
    Read More »
    • Window Dressing

      A strategy used by mutual fund and portfolio managers near the year or quarter end to improve the appearance of the portfolio/fund performance before presenting it to clients or ...
      Read More »
    • Average Return

      The simple mathematical average of a series of returns generated over a period of time. An average return is calculated the same way a simple average is calculated for any set of ...
      Read More »
    • Turtle

      A nickname given to a group of traders who were a part of an 1983 experiment run by two famous commodity traders, Richard Dennis and Bill Eckhardt. The goal of the study was to prove ...
      Read More »
    • Annual Return

      The return an investment provides over a period of time, expressed as a time-weighted annual percentage. Sources of returns can include dividends, returns of capital and capital ...
      Read More »
    • Unannualized

      A rate of return on an investment for a period other than one year. An unannualized return may be used to report results for a month, quarter or for several years. When the returns on a ...
      Read More »
    • Survivorship Bias Risk

      The possibility that an investor will make a misguided investment decision based on published investment fund return data that are unrealistically high because a company’s poorly ...
      Read More »

Articles Of Interest

Partner Links