The headline of a May article in Investment News, authored by senior columnist Jeff Benjamin, declares: “When investing in emerging-markets economies, stock picking beats indexed exposure.” As regular readers of my work will most likely not be shocked to discover, this assertion doesn’t reflect my own thoughts, nor is it supported by the historical evidence….
The battle over a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor, which would require retirement plan advisors to be fiduciaries to plan participants, has descended to a new low. The securities industry lobby has been earning its keep, persuading some members of Congress that putting the interest of plan participants first is actually a…
Conventional wisdom can be defined as ideas so ingrained in our belief system that they are accepted without challenge. Unfortunately, much of the conventional wisdom about investing is incorrect. For example, the conventional wisdom that investors seeking high returns should invest in countries forecasted to produce high rates of economic growth—such as India and China—is…
For most people the “B-Word” (budgeting) conjures up feelings of deprivation and self-denial. As such, when it comes to deciding how to allocate your hard-earned cash, I far prefer a concept I call “joy-based spending” to traditional budgeting. Here’s how it works. Instead of telling yourself all the things you shouldn’t spend money on, you…
One of the more common investment mistakes that individual investors—and sometimes even professional advisors—make when they’re developing a comprehensive financial plan is failing to account for important nonfinancial assets. Financial assets are easily observable and typically liquid. Thus, they’re often the center of attention. On the other hand, assets such as labor capital (the mortality-weighted…
I think just about the worst financial advice you can give to a recent college graduate is: “Buy stocks in companies whose products and services you like.” On the surface, advice to “buy what you know” is well-intentioned. After all, saving and investing early and often helps a young investor harness the amazing power of…
The effect of high-frequency trading on market quality has generated strong interest among academics, investors and regulators alike. To further explore the impact high-frequency trading can have on the markets, Jennifer Conrad, Sunil Wahal and Jin Xiang—authors of the study “High Frequency Quoting, Trading, and the Efficiency of Prices”—conducted two types of tests: (a) unconditional…
It’s no wonder that you are confused. The financial media inundates investors every day with a barrage of irrelevant — and often misleading — information. You might think every conceivable question about investing has been fully explored by now and that the answers to the majority of inquiries would be obvious. Not true. Here are…
Q: What is the FDIC and what are its insurance limits? A: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) was created in 1933 in response to many bank failures during the Great Depression. Its goal is to preserve and promote confidence in the financial system by insuring bank deposits. Because insured deposits are backed by the…
Humans can be a competitive lot. The way we posture and position ourselves to stand out in a group seems to happen instinctively. After all, in the past we competed for resources and survival. Our lives depended on it. Today, we still compete, but for different reasons. Instead of food, we compete for attention and…
The February 9 edition of Barron’s contained its annual listing of “best fund families” for the past one, five and 10 calendar years. Of all the fund families on the list, Invesco was the only one that managed to make the top four in each of the periods. In fact, it was the only fund…
The first formal asset pricing model—the capital asset pricing model—was built on certain assumptions, including that investors are risk-averse; will maximize the expected utility of absolute wealth; and care only about the mean and variance of return. However, academic research has found that these assumptions don’t necessarily hold. In the real world, some investors have…
As the director of research for The BAM Alliance, and the author and co-author of 15 investment books, I’m often asked about other books I would recommend. For serious investors who want to gain a deeper understanding of how markets work and the strategies most likely to allow them to achieve their financial goals, my…
Even many advocates of active management will concede that the efficiency of the market for U.S. large-cap stocks is so great that attempts to add value (generate alpha) through individual stock selection and/or market timing are unlikely to produce positive results. However, they cling religiously to the notion that active management remains the winning strategy…
“Level is dedicated to rewriting the financial rulebook to create a secure future for the next generation.” That’s budgeting app Level Money’s stated mission, which can be found on their website’s “About Us” page. But even as lofty as that objective sounds, co-founder and CEO Jake Fuentes says the company’s sights are set even higher….