It's not like we're fund managers that are going to get performance fees if we beat some benchmark or another.

True, but if your more active and expensive choice of an IT isn't beating a tracker that represents the same investible universe, then aren't you wasting your time and money trying?


I'd suggest all private investors compare against is RPI. If you don't beat RPI then you might as well have put your money into NS&I or IL gilts

Since the long-term return from UK shares is something like 9% per annum, while the RPI is more like 3% or 4% most of the time, comparing your IT total return with RPI is a very unambitious type of benchmarking. It does make sense to compare the rate of increase of your dividends with the RPI, at least if income is an objective for you. But otherwise you run the risk of making your investments looking much cleverer and more successful than they really are.