Private Equity vs. Index Funds Updated 3/21/19 This past week, I posted a blog about how the presentation of private equity returns can sometimes be inflated and hence might create confusion when comparing them to public market returns. I will admit that the title was somewhat click baitish (Fake News?), but the post was meant … More Betting Like Buffett
Recently, I noticed a Tweet from Josh Brown (like me, a Reformed Broker) and a follow-on note from Dan Egan, who I had the pleasure of working with in the past at a brokerage firm (maybe he should be called the Reformed Behaviorist). Both focused on how incentives and stimuli can influence investor behavior. It … More Pavlov’s Brokers
“A spectacular zero” and advice from Janet Yellen At the end of this post, I’ll explain the picture above and the advice Janet Yellen gave me. To start, though, most people know that I run an investment advisory firm and that, in the past, I held senior positions inside large Wall Street firms, giving advice … More Why I Don’t Make Forecasts
Walking makes you think better and goofing off is good for you. And no, I’m not being goofy. Classical Greek philosophers understood well the benefit of a break. Aristotle’s school of thought is called Peripatetic, which means “walking” or “given to walk about”, and members of his school were thought to do their best thinking … More To Think Better – Goof Off and Go For A Walk
This blog was started a few years ago as a place to share provoking ideas. I haven’t been as active as planned (life does get in the way sometimes), but hopefully it has gotten a few useful thoughts going. In an effort to get back on track, but with a nod to the limits of … More Provoking Posts and Brain Food
An article in the NY Times titled “The Oracle of Omaha, Lately Looking a Bit Ordinary”, got me thinking. Are the words in the image above what really adds value to relationships? The NY Times story, by Jeff Sommer, highlights research by Salil Mehta, on his blog Statistical Ideas, about the virtues of index investing. … More Are We Spending Too Much Time Selling Alpha?