In an interview with the Economic Times, NYU Stern Business School finance professor Aswath Damodaran shared his views on the current market environment and plight of active management. Here are…
Europe Gets a Lesson in Key-Person Risk
A recent Bloomberg article reminds us that a single person can bring down a firm, as illustrated by the unwinding of Swiss Investment firm GAM Holding AG and the troubles…
Asset Class Defined
The preponderance of low interest rates has created an environment in which product providers offer investors new asset classes to diversify their risk, but a recent article in CFA Institute…
Value Investing Headwinds
In an interview with Morningstar last November, International Value Advisors CIO and portfolio manager Charles de Vaulx outlines what he sees as headwinds for value investing. De Vaulx cites the…
2020 Forecasts and How to Beat Them
A recent article in CFA Institute advises investors to “rely on the wisdom of the crowd and follow the expert consensus forecast rather than any individual prediction.” According to the…
Traits of Successful Asset Managers
A report published recently by Morningstar identifies four traits of successful asset managers and three firms that embody them. This according to an article in Institutional Investor. The report says…
The Great Index Fund Takeover
A recent Bloomberg article describes the ongoing trend toward index investing as “one of the biggest shifts in corporate power in a generation,” citing the “Big Three” firms of BlackRock,…
The Elusive Definition of Risk
That lesson has not customarily been taught in business schools, where volatility is almost universally used as a proxy for risk. Though this pedagogic assumption makes for easy teaching, it…
Excess Returns: Episode 8: Perils of Market Forecasting
We have just completed market prediction season. It’s the time of year where there are countless forecasts about what the economy will do in the new year. Its when experts…
State Pension Funds Face “New Normal”
A report from Pew Charitable Trusts shows that state retirement systems are adjusting their return expectations to lower levels over the next 20 years. This according to a recent article…