President’s Day Factor Investing Geekout
Our epic piece on factors from a few weeks ago is still ringing in our own ears: Are factors even real? Or just data-mining? The [...]
Will ETFs Destroy Factor Investing? Nope.
One of the popular investing truisms is the following (inspired by Bill Sharpe): For somebody to beat the market (win) someone else has to lag [...]
Tactical Asset Allocation Insights via the Geeks from Thinknewfound
How do we identify who is a flash in the pan blogger versus the next Michael Kitces, Josh Brown, or Ben Carlson? We've tried to do our part and help to promote and share research from up and coming "undiscovered" bloggers/writers out there. In our early days, we were helped by long-time bloggers such as Meb Faber and Tadas Viskanta, so we try and return the favor. Recent examples of up and coming guest writers we've highlighted include Dan Sotiroff (now heading to Morningstar!), Aaron Brask, Andrew Miller, Elisabetta Basilico, and Dan Grioli -- all of whom have written interesting and insightful pieces!
How to Explain Momentum with Rational Investors — It’s complicated.
A recent theory paper from researchers at NYU and Rutgers attempts to explain the empirical evidence on stock serial correlation (e.g., short-term reversal, long-term stock reversal, and classic [...]
Greatest Stock Picker of All Time: Buffett or Lynch?
Who is the greatest stock picker of all time? Many investors' knee-jerk reaction is Warren Buffett. Understandable response, but is that the answer? Maybe not... So who [...]
Active Versus Passive for the US and the Canadian Markets
We all hear about the massive move away from active to passive in the US market. We also hear arguments that passive may eat the [...]
Factor Investing is More Art, and Less Science
Albert Einstein is reported to have said the following: The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know. We can relate. [...]
Berkin and Swedroe’s Factor Investing Book
Well, I was midway through a formal book review on Larry and Andrew's new book, "Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing," when I noticed that [...]
Shooting Yourself in the Foot with Socially Responsible Investing
Socially responsible investing (SRI). Environmental, Social, and Governance investing (ESG). Impact investing...and so on... These socially responsible investing concepts can be roughly described as portfolio [...]
Treasury Bills Outperform Most Stocks — Say What???
Each morning we peruse a variety of research sites to see if there is anything exciting, new, and intriguing. Rarely does one find something that [...]
1042 QRP: Weighing the High Cost of Floating Rate Notes
This cost-benefit analysis of floating rate notes as a 1042 QRP asset class will open your eyes to their high costs, ongoing fees and sub-optimal attributes
A Tactical Asset Allocation Researcher You Should Know
I'm a huge fan of hard-core academics that produce incredible research, and yet, very few are familiar with their research. I call these folks, "undiscovered gems." [...]
Book Review — Loaded: Money, Psychology, and How to Get Ahead…
A few months ago I had the pleasure of hearing Sarah Newcomb speak at a recent Morningstar ETF conference. She was extraordinary. Although I only [...]
How to Reduce Taxes through Negotiation
Since this is my first post, I'll make a quick introduction before getting to the content: I love science and learning. In college, I majored in [...]
The January Effect: An Evidence-Based Perspective
January is here again and market commentators are already telling stories about the so-called January Effect. Some articles (examples here and here) are saying the [...]
Go Skew Yourself with Managed Futures
Skewness is a statistical measure of how returns behave in the tails of a probability distribution. Wikipedia has a more robust definition of skewness with [...]
Factor ETF Due Diligence: A New Challenge for Some Investors
Factor investing seems to be everywhere, but the topic is still misunderstood by large swaths of the investing public. Tommi Johnsen and I would like [...]
Using Trend-Following Rules to Enhance Factor Performance
After reviewing the 2016 performance of trend-following (-18.15%), its unclear why anyone would mention the word "trend following" in a public forum. But we'll give it [...]
Are you Ready to Witness Finance Research on Steroids?
Have you ever dreamed of meeting Ben Bernanke face-to-face? Would you love the chance to bump into Larry Summers in the hallway? Or better yet, [...]
1042 Qualified Replacement Property: An Overview of ESOP Rollover Strategies
Executive Summary Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOP”) offer a variety of liquidity, tax and operating benefits to business owners who are contemplating a sale or [...]