A study by Morningstar reveals that, on average, less than 4.2% of the months are responsible for Indian actively managed diversified equity funds outperforming their benchmarks. Most of the time, these funds either track or trail the index. The study focuses on “critical months,” where missing these crucial periods would result in missing the risk premium associated with holding volatile assets like equities. Over a 10-year period from October 2013 to September 2023, Indian stocks owed their outperformance to just 12 months, amounting to 10% of the sample months. The findings highlight the risks of market timing and emphasize the importance of staying invested. Similar trends have been observed globally for actively managed funds and large-cap stocks.