Lipper, a U.S. fund tracker, noted that investors in variable annuities lost more money than those who invested in mutual funds wrought with scandal. Further examination of variable annuities revealed that rapid trading was more common than in mutual funds, leaving many older Americans vulnerable to market timers. A majority of annuity funds had churn rates over 100 percent in 2002, according to Lipper, but market timing in variable annuities is a more expensive task for investors than market timing in mutual funds--the fees are generally higher for rapid trades in annuities.