Main Street's Index, the BetterInvesting Top 100, Ends March Lower, Increases 12.7 Percent Annually for Past Five Years

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., April 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the end of March, the BetterInvesting Top 100 Index (BIXX), reflecting the portfolios of Main Street investors, increased 12.7 percent annually for the previous five years, versus annual growth of 14 percent for the Standard & Poor's 500 Equal-Weight Index (based on a total return for both indexes in which dividends are reinvested).

The index fell 0.13 percent from the end of February, the first drop since October. BIXX's total return index ended March at 381.68, compared with 382.19 at the end of February. Without dividends reinvested, the index was 291.15 at the end of March, an annual increase of 10.7 percent for the past five years.

The BetterInvesting Top 100 Index comprises the most popular holdings of investment clubs, employing annual data from the myICLUB.com online club accounting program. Solactive calculates the index, which began on April 9, 2007, at a base value of 150. BIXX is equal-weighted, meaning that each component constitutes the same percentage in the index.

BIXX reflects actual portfolio decisions by individual investors in investment clubs, while other indexes are weighted heavily toward decisions by large institutional investors. BetterInvesting's individual members and investment clubs tend to have a longer-term focus than do institutions, with clubs' average holding period for stocks at 3.1 years in 2016, according to myICLUB.com data.

Holding quality stocks selling at reasonable prices for the long term allows clubs and individual investors to benefit from the return these stocks often earn when the market recognizes their excellence. Long-term investing also reduces the costs of trading, which effectively increases return.

In March, the most common stocks acquired by investment clubs that subscribe to club-accounting portal myICLUB, in terms of number of clubs buying, were:

1. Facebook (FB)
2. Apple (AAPL)
3. Amazon.com (AMZN)
4. Snap Inc. (SNAP)
5. Visa (V)
6. Air Lease (AL)
7. Bank of America (BAC)
8. Exxon Mobil (XOM)
9. CVS Health (CVS)
10. Ford Motor (F)

BIXX includes companies of all sizes, from small and medium-size firms to the world's largest companies. To see the top 100 companies held by BetterInvesting members, go to the BetterInvesting website at www.betterinvesting.org.

To track the performance of BIXX, go to the Solactive site: www.solactive.com/?s=betterinvesting+100.

About BetterInvesting
BetterInvesting is a national nonprofit organization that has been empowering individual investors since 1951. Founded in Detroit, the association (formerly known as National Association of Investors Corporation) was borne out of the conviction that anyone can become a successful long-term investor by following commonsense investing practices. BetterInvesting has helped more than 5 million people become better, more informed investors by providing webinars, in-person events, easy-to-use online tools for analyzing stocks and mutual funds, a monthly magazine and a community of volunteers and like-minded investors. For more information about BetterInvesting, visit its website at www.betterinvesting.org or call toll free (877) 275-6242.

About ICLUBcentral
ICLUBcentral Inc. develops powerful, commonsense tools for investment clubs and independent investors, including software products such as Toolkit 6, the StockCentral.com and EquityResearchService.com stock research sites, the myICLUB.com club accounting service, MyStockProspector stock screen program and the SmallCap Informer and market-beating Investor Advisory Service newsletters. ICLUBcentral, a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of nonprofit investment education association BetterInvesting, has remained true to BetterInvesting's fundamental investing principles while serving millions of individual investors striving for financial freedom. For more information, visit www.iclub.com.

SOURCE BetterInvesting