In this week’s episode of Excess Returns, we talk about the biggest lessons from the first year of our Five Questions interview series. Our Five Questions series features in depth…
The Importance of Diversification
A recent article in Vanguard argues that diversification is the best way to control the risk that is necessary to generate portfolio returns. Here are the main takeaways: Fund type…
Active Fund Performed “So-So” in 2019
Although the markets “treated investors kindly last year,” a recent Morningstar article points out that most active funds lagged their benchmarks. Morningstar conducted a study of calendar-year total returns of…
The Importance of the Sector Story
When we look at the past in investing, all of us have a tendency to want to find the simplest explanations for the things that occurred. But beneath the surface,…
‘Dow 36,000’ Misses the Mark
Recalling the 1999 book titled, “Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market,” a recent Bloomberg article highlights the error in the assertion,…
Behavioral Finance and the Big Five
A recent Morningstar article is the first in a new series that will share insights from the study of the “Big Five” personality traits and their relationship to investor behavioral…
Why Companies are Sitting on Cash
A recent article in Harvard Business Review shares insights on why U.S. companies are sitting on approximately $4 trillion in cash compared to just $2.7 trillion a decade ago and…
Expected Returns and the Enterprise Multiple
In a recent article for Advisor Perspectives, BAM Alliance director of research Larry Swedroe reports findings of a new study that show price-to-enterprise value (EM) as a more powerful predictor…
Excess Returns: Episode 9: The Benefits of a Value Composite
Picking the right value metric can be one of the biggest challenges of quantitative value investing. Although the Price/Book is the most widely used value metric, its struggles in recent…
Buffett Sells Newspaper Business
Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway have agreed to sell BH Media and the Buffalo News to Lee Enterprises, Inc., for $140 million in cash, marking a “rare divestiture after he…