Nagorak and AJW are absolutely 100% right

I personally think you'd be better off managing your own stocks and index funds then trying to manage your mutual fund managers. It's not a question of time, its a question of your own confidence. You sound like you have a lot of time tied up in reseraching sectors and companies your manager buys and sells. It also sounds like an excuse to chase performance and blame someone else if his picks don't turn out. It's easy to blame a fund manager. It's a lot harder to be critical of ourselves if we make bad investments on our own. Trust me, I know from my own experience.