Later this month John Wiley will release Bonds Are Not Forever; The Crisis Facing Fixed Income Investors. Some might say that one book is enough for anybody to write, but I must confess the experience following release of The Hedge Fund Mirage in late 2011 was sufficiently positive that I decided to indulge my audience’s […]
Outside of managing SL Advisors and writing books I chair two investment committees for local non-profit organizations. In reviewing returns for the first half of 2013 for one of them I was surprised at how U.S.- centric investment returns have been this year. Our benchmark is 50% Developed Market Equities, 20% Emerging Market Equities, 20% […]
The Economist has informative coverage of the developing public pension crisis using Detroit’s bankruptcy filing as an illustration. It’s well worth reading. The issue is not going away.
A couple of years ago Goldman Sachs’ CEO Lloyd Blankfein was on TV almost every day promoting the good his company does for the economy. One of his less fortunate phrases in his otherwise highly articulate defense of his firm was that Goldman was “…doing God’s work.” I imagine he meant Goldman was engaged in […]
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/betting-on-dividend-paying-stocks-lHzHO9SCQgil9Im6UNyHNQ.html
Bloomberg Businessweek, July 2013 Simon Lack, December 2011 Obviously, I was too kind. What does the hedge fund industry’s chief lobbying group AIMA (Alternative Investment Managers Association) have to say?
Fixed income managers have recently had to practice a rarely used skill; explaining poor investment performance to their clients. Bonds have been a great investment for a long time, but Fed Chairman Bernanke’s press conference last month has at least introduced two-way risk into the market. Quite possibly, he heralded the end of the secular […]
It’s a long time since we had a bear market in bonds. Some may remember 1994, when Greenspan shocked the market from its complacency with a series of hikes in the Fed Funds rate. Events culminated that year with the bankruptcy of Orange County due to ill-advised bets on continued low rates by its treasurer […]
Investing in emerging markets has become de rigeur for equity investors in recent years. If you like stocks, goes the argument, how could you not like stocks in countries where growth is fastest? It’s probably fair to say that investing today with the objective of avoiding emerging markets is a more controversial approach than including […]
France’s culture minister has criticized Amazon for undercutting rivals and being a “destroyer of bookshops”. Curiously, Aurelie Filippetti went on to claim that “Everyone has had enough of Amazon” although if French subjects weren’t such active customers Mme Filippetti would have to concern herself with less weighty matters. No doubt online sales have greatly challenged traditional, brick […]
