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The Most Successful Public Company In The World
Today we focus on the most successful and profitable company in the entire world. It just happens to be an American company, but many of us have never heard of it. If you had invested $1 in this company in 1968, your investment would have soared to $6,638 at the end of last year. I think you’ll be surprised to see which company this is.
DC Managed Accounts: Shining a Spotlight on Investment Advice
?Nearly one in three defined contribution (DC) plans offers managed account and automated advice services that attempt to enhance investment outcomes with personalized advice. As the Government Accountability Office has reported, however, plan sponsors often have had limited or insufficient information to evaluate and monitor automated advice engines, despite having fiduciary responsibility over advice provided to participants.
Curiosity-free Research
by Michael Edesess,
You come across an article that won the Financial Analyst Journal's award for best paper of 2013. You tracked it down from something you saw recently in The Economist. It is written by two Yale professors and two researchers at investment management firms - a good mix of academics and practitioners. Is it safe to assume that it provides reliable information about how to invest one's savings?
Mohamed El-Erian: Beware the Bubble in Liquidity
by Robert Huebscher,
In 2000, it was technology stocks. In 2007, it was real-estate prices. Among today's overvalued asset classes, which one will crash most spectacularly when the bubble bursts? Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic advisor at Allianz, thinks he knows the answer.
Outcome Investing: Blending Index and Active Strategies
by Russ Koesterich of BlackRock,
There is a lot to consider when building a portfolio. First and foremost, what is the end goal? Beyond that, investors need to also consider how much risk to take and over what time horizon? Another question that frequently comes up and is the source of many contentious debates: Should I consider indexed or active products? The simple and important answer is: both.
Active Opportunities in a Passive World
Investors have heard the drumbeat for years that the days of actively managed mutual funds are numbered. After all, some experts maintain, the performance of active funds, especially after fees are removed, typically fall short of those of passive index funds, especially when the stock market is on an upswing. But the authors contend, with apologies to Mark Twain, that reports of the demise of actively managed funds have been greatly exaggerated. And, with the help of some prominent academics, they make the case for staying active.
High-Yield ETFs: Don’t Get Fenced In
Few high-yield investors have weathered the recent plunge in energy prices without experiencing at least a few bumps and bruises. But those who relied on broad market exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to gain market exposure are nursing the most serious wounds. Coincidence? We don’t think so.
PIMCO Introduces the PIMCO Multi-Strategy Alternative Strategy
by PIMCO,
In a New Neutral environment that anticipates muted returns and heightened volatility, many investors have looked to liquid alternatives in an effort to boost returns and lower overall portfolio risks. Our approach seeks to efficiently combine a range of complementary liquid alternative strategies, offering the potential for diversification and higher return per unit of risk than a single strategy could achieve on its own. This strategy can play a central role in liquid alternatives allocations or be used as a stand-alone complement to traditional stock and bond allocations.
Municipal Market Perspectives
by Team of SMC Fixed Income Management,
Pick your poison: weaker oil and copper prices; increasing gold demand; Swiss Franc and Canadian Dollar devaluations; another possible Greek tragedy; launch of European Central Bank (“ECB”) bond buying program; waning emerging markets; weakening U.S. stock prices; global deflation worries. It appears to us that the broadening global weakness could be beginning to negatively impact the U.S. expansion. Given the current state of global events, we see no reason for the Fed to prematurely move ahead with its rate normalization plan as many anticipate occurring by mid-year 2015.
The Strange Case of the Current Small-Cap Cycle
by Team of The Royce Funds,
For much of the past five years, small-cap stocks have generated returns well above their monthly rolling five-year averages. In addition, lower-than-usual volatility within the asset class and a decline in the cost of capital spurred by the Fed?s monetary stimulus programs have created an unfriendly environment for active stock pickers such as ourselves. Our latest research, however, suggests that some of these conditions were abating late in 2014, which might benefit those investors who focus on fundamentals and try to use volatility to create longer-term opportunities.
Municipal Market Update: What's Ahead in 2015
Municipal bonds ended 2014 as one of the best-performing asset classes - buoyed by investors’ search for yield in a low interest-rate environment. For 2015, we are positioned cautiously for greater volatility in the fixed income markets. We currently prefer revenue-backed bonds over most general obligation (GO) debt, as these sectors typically benefit from dedicated revenue streams and do not have the pension challenges that many state and local governments face.
Black Cypress: Ignore the Bears; The Force(s) are with Us
The U.S. economy should continue to expand and that bodes well for stocks. The next bear market will likely start due to a recession or geo-political conflict and not from the start of Fed interest rate increases or time elapsed. The current economic landscape is favorable to growth. Stock markets are priced for low returns.
Weekly Market Summary
by Urban Carmel of The Fat Pitch,
It's safe to say that US indices have been acting very differently over the past two months than they have at any other time in the past 3 years. This oscillating pattern of sharp falls and rebounds suggests equities are searching for direction. In the past 5 years, this has been a prelude to a change in trend.
Despite Hitting an Oil Slick, Evidence Underpins a Positive Outlook on MLPs
The fall in energy prices has raised concerns that the dramatic hydrocarbon volume growth we have seen from the new shale plays in the U.S. in the past few years is over or might even reverse. We believe these concerns are overblown. We think the current dislocation in the commodity markets is a case of supply temporarily getting ahead of demand.
What We Are Hearing From Asia-Pacific Investors: Five Themes for 2015
by Eric Mogelof of PIMCO,
Amid lower forward-looking returns, investors are focusing on multi-asset solutions, enhanced beta, income and alternatives in Asia-Pacific. PIMCO is prepared to address these themes, drawing upon our time-tested investment process that combines high-level macroeconomic views with thorough on-the-ground research.
QQE2: Japan?s Monetary Banzai Charge
by Chris Richey of Neosho Capital,
In this Age of Monetary Policy, it is impossible to ignore the macro. As much as we would like to focus only on individual enterprises, the mind-boggling scale of $5 trillion of monetary intervention in the U.S., Japan, and Europe renders such cloistered thinking imprudent. Not only must Benjamin Graham?s enterprising investor understand individual stocks, but they must also be keenly cognizant of the role the world?s largest central banks actively play in the value of currencies, bonds, stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and derivatives of all kinds.
The Best Way to Communicate New Investment Approaches
We recently changed our investment approach. As senior management, we decided against broad messaging because we believed it would cause more consternation on the part of our clients. Some of our advisors think this is disingenuous. Do you agree with our decision or should we be telling our clients exactly what we are doing and why?
Oil, Currencies, and the Fed
Fourth quarter headlines included volatility spikes, dramatic declines in oil prices, and positive views of the economy by the Fed. Oil declined 41% this quarter and 46% for the year. The dollar continued to gain against some major developed global currencies. For the year, the dollar gained 13.6% against the euro and 13.8% against the yen while gold was down 2%.
Flying High in the Sky, Looking for Opportunities in 2015
Savvy investors know to be patient with their holdings and not easily give in to the prevailing culture of instant gratification. Ive run multiple marathons over the years and am intimately familiar with the personal rewards of going the distance. A similar investing strategy can come with the same rewards.
The Price All Investors Pay for Benchmarking
by Michael Edesess,
Could the practice of measuring and evaluating manager performance by comparing it to a market index be distorting prices across the whole market? That is the conclusion reached in a recent paper entitled "Asset Management Contracts and Equilibrium Prices," by three academic researchers, Andrea M. Buffa of Boston University and Dimitri Vayanos and Paul Woolley of the London School of Economics.
Convertible Bonds: The Rodney Dangerfield of Liquid Alts
by Robert Martorana,
Historical returns have been outstanding for convertible-bond strategies. Moreover, low drawdowns during bear markets give these products an attractive risk-return profile, especially when compared to other liquid alternatives.
Completing the Alternative Investments Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together
by Walter Davis of Invesco Blog,
In my previous blog, I discussed why I believe advisors and investors should approach alternative investments much like a jigsaw puzzle and offered an organizing framework that can help. When putting together a puzzle, the first step is to sort and organize all the pieces. For alternatives, the first step is to organize and align the various alternative strategies with specific investment objectives. This step is critical because it helps investors decide whether alternatives can help them meet their needs, and, therefore, whether they should invest in them.
Where Did The New Middle Class Citizens Go?
The "well known fact" with regards to oil over the last decade read like this: because of huge GDP growth in emerging markets like China, there were going to be 400 million new middle class citizens born of uninterrupted prosperity; they were going to want all the autos, consumer goods, $10,000 watches and food that Americans have.
Allocating to Alternative Investment Strategies
by Nathan Rowader of Forward Investing,
Following the market declines in 2008 and 2009, many investors have shown interest in alternative investment strategies such as hedge funds and mutual funds that employ hedge fund-like strategies. These types of strategies have been around a long time, but until recently their use among individual investors has been somewhat limited.
Who Should Go to the Bowls?
When I was a kid there were just four year-end college football bowl games. Today there are 39. Perhaps the title of this piece should be Do we need holiday football bowls at all? But I guess they wouldnt produce them unless there was a demand for them from the cities, hoping to get some travelers, to the sponsors, hoping to get some attention, to the teams, seeking to cap a successful season, and to the fans, who are just looking to have some fun and experience a last hurrah for this years heroes.
Weekly Market Summary
by Urban Carmel of The Fat Pitch,
Coming into this week, SPY had been above its 5-dma for 30 days in a row. This was a new record, unlike any streak the index has ever seen. We reviewed prior examples of these streaks earlier; our conclusion was that the streak rarely marked the top in the market, meaning there were higher highs immediately ahead after the streak ended. But the index also struggled in the following weeks, often trading lower.
Unintended Consequences of Staying Early Termination Rights
The topic of too big to fail has been an intense area of focus for policymakers and market participants, and for good reason: Everyone has a vested interest in avoiding a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis and its corresponding aftershocks.
The Evaluation of Common Stocks
by Kendall Anderson of Anderson Griggs,
I have met many financially secure families over the years. Most earned this financial security by working hard, while saving as much as possible, for a very long time. Some inherited a safety net, some married into wealth, and a few lucky people just did everything right at the right time. What I have not come across is anyone who gained financial security quickly in a short period by investing in the capital markets. I know there are a few of these wonder kids somewhere on the planet, but I havent met them.
Gross versus Gundlach: Who Has More Skill?
by Robert Huebscher,
If rocket science has a counterpart in financial analysis, it is in the quantitative analytics from companies like Boston-based Northfield Information Services. Last week, I spoke with Dan di Bartolomeo, founder and CEO, to see if he could detect skill or luck among the two biggest fixed-income managers: Bill Gross, when he managed the PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTRX), and Jeffrey Gundlach, manager of the DoubleLine Total Return Fund (DBLTX).
Asia's Deepening Capital Markets
by Robert Horrocks of Matthews Asia,
The drivers of economic growth, the region's small- and medium-sized enterprises, are finally gaining access to capital through alternative funding sources outside of just banks. Retail investors are accessing increasingly diverse products in which to store their savings and build wealth. Institutions are demanding long-dated assets to match their liabilities? Are we finally seeing more stable local demand in Asia's local capital markets?
Flows Potential: Fund Managers Remain Under-Weight Japan
by Jeremy Schwartz of WisdomTree, Inc.,
The recent bout of aggressive monetary policy easing by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), combined with the direct purchases of equities by the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), has brought on a new period of positive sentiment toward Japanese equities.
Why the Risk-Reduction Benefits of Bond Ladders Have Been Overstated
by Joe Tomlinson,
Proponents of bond ladders argue that they will significantly improve the security of financial plans. Others contend that the risk reduction benefits are merely a mirage. I side with the latter view and will explain why.
How AQR's New Fund Adds Value - An Alternative Approach to Alternatives: Investing with Style
by Larry Swedroe,
The conventional justification for alternative investments has been their ability to effectively diversify against core equity and fixed-income allocations. But, in many cases, the empirical data doesn't support that view. A new fund provides a different way to obtain returns from sources that have low to negative correlation to stocks and bonds, as well as each other - an alternative to alternative investment vehicles.
Weekly Market Summary
by Urban Carmel of The Fat Pitch,
SPX, DJIA and RUT ended the week nearly unchanged from last week. NDX, which was unchanged last week, gained 1.5%. It's hard to say trend is not bullish: SPX, DJIA and NDX all made new highs intra-week; RUT briefly traded above its early September high before closing lower.
Municipal Market Perspectives
by Team of SMC Fixed Income Management,
The most surprising and impressive asset class performance has been generated by long-term municipal bonds. Most pundits were calling for negative market performance again this year following the sharp 2013 sell-off; no one we know of (ourselves included) foresaw the stellar returns achieved through the years first ten months.
A First Look at Morningstar's Analyst Ratings
by Robert Huebscher,
Overwhelming academic evidence documents the difficulty in distinguishing skill from luck among actively managed mutual funds. Despite this fact, many vendors have attempted to identify those that will beat their benchmarks and deliver excess risk-adjusted returns. Noteworthy among those vendors is Morningstar, which offers forward-looking "analyst ratings." We've evaluated the predictive ability of the first vintage of those ratings, which were published three years ago.
Capital Raising in the MLP Sector Remains Active
We continue to see evidence that underpins our long term positive outlook on MLPs and midstream energy infrastructure companies. The need for new midstream infrastructure remains significant and announcements of large projects continue to be made. New export markets for U.S. hydrocarbons continue to develop and offer new profit opportunities for MLPs.
Emerging Markets Trends: Whats Negative for One Market May Boost Another
by Steve Cao of Invesco Blog,
Economic conditions have continued to deteriorate in emerging markets, and corporate earnings forecasts have fallen. Overall, emerging markets were down 4.3% in the third quarter, underperforming the developed world. In the midst of this negative news, however, were seeing a few bright spots start to emerge, and weve been able to add holdings that, in our view, became mispriced during market volatility.
Weekly Market Summary
by Urban Carmel of The Fat Pitch,
It's hard to argue that the price action of US equities is not bullish. SPX and DJIA ended the week at new highs. NDX stayed near the new highs it made last week, apparently digesting its gains. NDX was flat for the week while SPX and DJIA added another 1%. This is mostly reflected at the sector level as well. Financials, technology, industrials and transports are cyclical leaders all making new highs this week. But what is curious is that the market is being led more by defensives. Staples, utilities and healthcare are also at new highs. Since the September 19 top, SPX has added 1%, but defen
Results 2,651–2,700
of 3,332 found.
