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Sat, October 16, 2010
In a move calculated to undercut competitors, the Vanguard family of funds has announced a reduction in the minimum investment required to gain access to its "Admiral" class of mutual fund shares. Read the full article
Mon, July 06, 2009
Several weeks ago I found time to read Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled By Randomness. This book, entertaining and eminently readable, is something between a memoir and a treatise on the pervasive human tendency to discern patterns in places where they don't actually exist. Among many examples, he shows how easy it is to mistake a lucky idiot for a skilled investment manager. Read the full article
Mon, May 04, 2009
There’s a continuing debate over the question of whether active mutual fund management (funds that buy in and out of the market, looking for stocks that managers believe will outperform the market) is capable of consistently beating passive management (buy stock indexes). Standard and Poor’s Index Services recently weighed in with its latest assessment on this question. Read the full article
Wed, June 18, 2008
Legendary investor Warren Buffett has made an interesting wager with the management of a New York hedge fund. Buffett is betting that over the course of ten years, the hedge fund won't be able to outperform a passive S&P 500 index fund after fees are considered. Read the full article
Fri, May 16, 2008
When I meet with a prospective client for the first time, I try to explain a little about my approach to investments. On a couple of occasions when I’ve mentioned “index mutual funds,” someone has asked me, “what’s an index?” I’m always happy to get this kind of question; such questions help me remember that not everyone on the planet is a personal finance geek (and that’s a good thing). Read the full article
Mon, May 05, 2008
The question of whether one should use a passive investment strategy (in which you buy an entire market index) vs. an active strategy (in which you try to figure out which specific securities will outperform and invest in those) is one that can produce passionate responses. Express a strong opinion in favor of one dogma or the other in the midst of a bunch of financial types, and a brawl may ensue. Read the full article
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