There’s a powerful agenda behind the opposition to the rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requiring that advisors to retirement plans be fiduciaries: The securities industry wants to preserve its ability to give conflicted advice. There’s a lot at stake. Background Information Fiduciaries are required to put the interests of their clients…
I love a good story. In fact, I used to tell myself at least one new story every time I opened my credit card statement. “Oh,” I’d say to myself, “I was so busy last month, it makes perfect sense that I ate out a dozen times. I’ll just eat out less next month.” Other…
There’s a large body of sound, academic evidence (which is presented in my books, “The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You’ll Ever Need” and “The Quest for Alpha”) demonstrating that, in aggregate, private equity investments have represented the triumph of hype and hope over wisdom and experience. The following is a summary of findings from…
I have a crazy idea I want to run by you. Imagine that a cultural anthropologist finds one of your credit card statements in 100 years. What would your spending suggest you value the most? Based on your spending, what assumptions might someone make about how you live your life? Our credit card statements (really,…
Last week, we recapped some of the more recent literature on the performance of private equity, and venture capital (VC) in particular. The cumulative body of evidence, we found, was damning with regard to venture capital’s ability to provide better returns than comparable—and less risky—publicly traded equities. We left off with a review of a…
Every January, I put together a list of predictions that financial “gurus” have made for the upcoming year, especially the ones that gain consensus as “sure things.” Through a series of periodic updates, I keep track of whether these “sure thing” forecasts actually came to pass. The turn of the calendar into July means it’s…
“You don’t really do this stuff—do you?” The question came from a major network anchor after the camera stopped rolling. The topic was budgeting. He certainly isn’t obtuse, and he wasn’t being patronizing or condescending. It was a legitimate question that accurately reflects the underlying perception held by most people in any demographic–that budgeting is…
A few weeks ago, I got home late after a long trip. I’d been traveling a lot recently and didn’t sleep well that night. The next morning, I woke up and felt like I’d been hit by a truck. Emotionally, I was at a really low point. When I came downstairs that morning, I asked…
The midyear 2015 Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) persistence scorecard for U.S. equity markets provides yet another example of why—at least when it comes to the overall results of active management relative to their appropriate benchmarks—the past can, in fact, be considered prologue. Here are some of the highlights from the report: Of…
When we think of mountain climbing, we tend to think of Mount Everest and big groups of people climbing in long lines. Armies of Sherpas create base camps and ferry supplies and gear up and down the mountain. Miles of rope anchored to the mountainside helps climbers reach the top. For a very long time,…
A good number of Wall Street “gurus” have, for quite some time now, been loudly and repeatedly warning investors that bond yields will soar. That, they caution, will in turn lead to falling stock prices. Unfortunately, this bit of “conventional wisdom” regarding the relationship between stocks and bonds may have led many investors to panic…
Where am I now? Where do I want to go from here? At the start of each year, many of us make it a habit to ask ourselves the two above questions. The answers help us map out a strategy, make resolutions and set goals. This annual exercise offers us the opportunity to take stock…
More than a decade ago, I learned how to kayak. I practiced in the pool a few times before deciding to test my skills on the river. For one of my first trips, my wife and I traveled to the Snake River just below Jackson Hole, Wyo. We planned to paddle a stretch of the…
“You don’t really do this stuff—do you?” The question came from a major network anchor after the camera stopped rolling. The topic was budgeting. He certainly isn’t obtuse, and he wasn’t being patronizing or condescending. It was a legitimate question that accurately reflects the underlying perception held by most people in any demographic–that budgeting is…
In this installment of our continuing series on the ability of actively managed fund families to generate alpha, we’ll evaluate the recent performance of equity funds managed by Neuberger Berman to determine if the firm adds value for its investors. Regardless of whether it actually delivers on its promise, it seems Neuberger Berman’s “active, risk-disciplined…