This is my fourth article in a series devoted to helping investors stay disciplined in the face of market volatility—and even lengthy periods of underperformance by risky assets. The first was a December 2015 post dealing with what I call “investment depression.” The second was a January post designed to help investors deal with the…
Possessing a well-thought-out asset allocation plan that takes into account your unique ability, willingness and need to take market risk is only the necessary condition for success in investing (unless you just happen to get very lucky). The sufficient condition is having the discipline to stay the course. That’s certainly not easy to do when…
The effect of high-frequency trading (HFT) on market quality is important, and has generated strong interest among academics, investors and regulators alike. Graham Partington, Richard Philip and Amy Kwan—authors of an October 2015 paper, “Is High Frequency Trading Beneficial to Market Quality?”—examined how HFT has changed the dynamics of the market and whether traditional academic…
Have you ever had a client who’s really used to being in control? I had a client like that once. He was a great guy and a friend who also happened to be a super-successful entrepreneur. For him, when he wanted something to happen, he made it happen.One day, he was frustrated and said, “I…
Early in my career, I worked for a big brokerage firm. Back then, I made a habit of seeking out the veteran stockbrokers and quizzing them about their careers. One day, I had a pretty extensive conversation about risk with one of those grizzled Wall Street guys. I’ll never forget it. “Let’s assume you’re moving…
“To get to the magic part of the climb, it’s going to hurt. That’s normal. Your legs should be feeling pain right now. Just keep going.” So said my Revocycle instructor during a recent freewheel spinning class. My legs were indeed burning. But I didn’t change tactics or give up; I just kept pedaling steadily….
Last week, Financial Advisor magazine published a story announcing that one of the mutual fund industry’s oldest funds, run by one of its most enduring fund managers, Kenneth Heebner, went out of business when Natixis Global Asset Management liquidated its CGM Advisor Targeted Equity Fund. According to the article, at its end, the fund had…
One of the more frequently asked questions I receive as the director of research for The BAM ALLIANCE is whether, as investors abandon active mutual funds, it will become easier for active managers to outperform. The trend toward passive investing has been inexorable, although slow, for the past 20 years, with roughly 1% of active…
The financial industry would prefer you to believe that you can’t be a successful investor without it. That’s good for business but it’s not exactly true. In fact, it may be truer to suggest that a layperson with a reasonable grasp of middle school math—combined with the rarer traits of discipline, grit and humility—is capable…
In the market these days, it seems what goes up must come down — and then go up and then down again. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average opened 100 points higher, but then fell by more than 150 points before again trying for gains in midday trading. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 weren’t…
Quick Take on Fixed Income February 2016 Q: Does an individual bond ladder offer more protection in a rising rate environment than a bond fund? A: Many investors are worried about how rising interest rates will affect their fixed income portfolio. Many believe an individual bond ladder better protects them against rising rates because they…
I have a problem: It’s really hard for me to say no to new, exciting projects. If you’re doing creative work at all (and I’m using this term very broadly, so that should mean just about everybody), then you’ve probably run into this problem yourself. There are endless options for how you could spend your…
As the director of research for The BAM Alliance—a community of about 140 like-minded RIA firms who believe in providing a fiduciary standard of care using an evidence-based investment strategy—I often get requests from other advisors for my help in answering questions from clients about articles they’ve read in the financial media. As such, I…
Among the more notable anomalies in modern finance is the finding that the lowest-beta stocks have produced higher returns than the highest-beta stocks. Another anomaly is that idiosyncratic (diversifiable) volatility negatively predicts equity returns. In other words, stocks with the lowest idiosyncratic volatility outperform stocks with the highest idiosyncratic volatility. These findings have spurred a…
I like buying high-quality things. And for the longest time, I’ve had this sneaking suspicion that buying high-quality stuff, which perhaps initially was more expensive, actually saved me money in the long run. It wasn’t until very recently, though, that I noticed a strong argument in support of my hunch. The other day, I was…
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