To learn that your mutual fund firm's lineup posted negative returns over a decade is one thing; to realise that almost $60bn (€44bn) of investors' wealth was wiped out is another matter entirely.

That is what happened at Janus Capital Group from 2000 through 2009. The mutual fund giant's offerings collectively saw 10-year asset-weighted total return of minus-1% a year, which translates into $58.4bn of investment losses.