Tag: behavioral-finance

Let’s say you want to drop a few pounds or improve your physical strength. You might hire a trainer to help create a plan and provide guidance.

Now imagine your trainer wasn’t just there for encouragement, but could actually do the exercise for you? That’d be a gamer changer!

That’s how an outsourced systematic investment manager helps financial advisors eliminate behavioral bias and stick to the process: by doing “the exercise” for them.

What does history explain about the future? Part 1

The last 20 years have given us three major market shocks. These resulted from the end of a tech bubble, a financial crisis and now, a global pandemic. During this time, investors have experienced every emotional high and low that can be imagined, yet in general, the approach to investing delivered by the financial services industry has not fundamentally changed. Today’s note establishes the case for why this has to change. Read on…

First, we sincerely hope this note finds everyone safe and healthy in your world. Blessings abound for our team and our families, and we are grateful to be here to serve our clients and friends. To paraphrase the line from Cool Hand Luke, we will not be accused of a ‘failure to communicate’!  Every month, on the last trading day when we rebalance our portfolios, we send a note to our clients and partners with an update on changes in the model and the status of price trends based upon our rules and systems.  This month, we want to share it with our full audience, because we believe it is insightful regarding the current environment, and because we are proud of our work.  Please read on.

We are clearly in an unprecedented environment where many are referring to the novel coronavirus as an ‘invader’ of our country.  Elections are being postponed in Ohio, residents are being ordered to stay home in some jurisdictions, and businesses that normally never close are now shut down. From an investment perspective many advisors will refer to conventional wisdom as a way to calm clients. One example is the Best 10 Days Rule, and we believe it is a myth.  Read on….

By most measures, markets have entered a bear phase and are down almost 20% from all-time highs. The coronavirus, oil rout, and politics have combined to create a perfect storm in the markets. In times like these, what do we crave most? Surely, we all want to be safe and to know that the virus spread has slowed and that a cure or vaccine is ready to be deployed in abundance. We want to have control when none is available. Short of control, the next best thing we hope for under a constant barrage of bad news is…clarity.