It was hard to miss the headlines about escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China this week—and hard not to notice the up-and-down market activity that went along with it. But what, if any, long-term impact does trade policy have on the economy and, by extension, our portfolios? The BAM ALLIANCE’S Director of Investment…
Ever since the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, when the correlation of all risky assets rose toward 1, investors have been hearing that because of globalization, the world has become flat and the benefits of diversification are gone. The explanation is generally that the world market has become more integrated and financial markets more globalized….
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. I’ve so far covered what they taught us in 2018 in lessons one through three and then lessons four through seven. We’ll finish up today with lessons eight through 11. Lesson 8: Inflation wasn’t, and isn’t, inevitable. One of the most persistently asked questions I’ve…
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. Earlier this week, I covered lessons one through three. Today, I’ll tackle lessons four through seven. Lesson 4: Volatility doesn’t stay low forever. Your discipline will be tested. While the VIX’s long-term average has been about 20, we entered 2018 with the Volatility…
Every year, the markets provide us with lessons on the prudent investment strategy. Many times, markets offer investors remedial courses, covering lessons it taught in previous years. That’s why one of my favorite sayings is that “there’s nothing new in investing, only investment history you don’t yet know.” 2018 supplied 11 important lessons. As you…
There’s always something to worry about when it comes to the stock market, but panic selling all-too-often ends in disaster. That, Larry Swedroe writes, is why it’s so crucial for investors to have a prudent, well-thought-out financial plan in place. As the director of research for Buckingham Strategic Wealth and The BAM Alliance, whenever markets…
New report, same old story. Larry Swedroe unpacks highlights from the most recent SPIVA scorecard that offer still more powerful evidence of active management’s continued failure to persistently outperform. Since 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has published its biannual Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) reports, which compare the performance of actively managed equity funds to their appropriate index…
Why do investors choose to keep playing the loser’s game? Larry Swedroe offers some explanations of his own, then unpacks a study that suggests a form of the conjunction fallacy has a role in active management’s survival. The opening chapter of my first book, “The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need,”…
Failing to properly plan for the costs associated with aging can have dire consequences for the retirement you envision. Larry Swedroe unpacks a resource to help investors navigate the many financial aspects of elder and long-term care. In planning for retirement, most people—and their advisors—consider issues such as: How much savings will be needed to…
Larry Swedroe examines a new study that highlights the negative relationship between activity and performance in bond funds. Does it pay to be active in fixed-income markets? To help answer that question, Martin Rohleder, chair of Finance and Banking at the University of Augsburg, examined the performance of active fund managers in his December 2017…
When it comes to secure retirement, today’s investors face some major hurdles. Larry Swedroe unpacks the threat, and offers some solutions to help improve financial outcomes. A common axiom is that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. And while most people would never start a business without a business plan, many investors manage…
Larry Swedroe talks to Bloomberg ETF IQ host Scarlet Fu in an interview that tackles topics ranging from the Yale endowment to passive fixed income funds and the hurdles facing active managers. Diversify broadly across unique sources of risk and return, Larry Swedroe tells Bloomberg ETF IQ host Scarlet Fu in an interview that tackles…
Larry Swedroe unpacks the newly released year-end 2017 SPIVA report and its look at active management’s underwhelming performance. Since 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has published its S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) scorecards, which compare the performance of actively managed equity mutual funds to their appropriate index benchmarks. The 2017 report includes 15 years of data. Following…
Larry Swedroe concludes it’s premature to give up on the value factor, but also that its premium has only been earned by investors disciplined enough to stay the course through sometimes long periods of underperformance. As the director of research for Buckingham Strategic Wealth and The BAM Alliance, I’ve been getting lots of questions about…
The latest SPIVA scorecard is out, and Larry Swedroe unpacks results that show persistence in performance beyond the randomly expected remains out of reach for active managers. Since 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has published its biannual Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) reports, which compare the performance of actively managed equity funds to their appropriate index benchmarks….
