Portfolio Construction
Keep up with the latest news on key elements for successful portfolio construction including asset allocation, asset management options and investment strategies.
November 01, 2006
Tales from the TrenchesGroucho Marx once joked puckishly: "I never forget a face -- but in your case, I'll make an exception!" To be sure, seldom has there been...
October 26, 2006
Alpha From Undervalued and Overvalued SecuritiesUBS has launched a new fund that will leverage the equity research that UBS Global Asset Management already does, and endeavor to capture alpha from both under-valued and over-valued U.S. equity securities. It is a 130/30 long-short equity strategy in which the portfolio's managers will sell-short overvalued securities worth 30%...
October 20, 2006
Podcast: Fundamental IndexingIn this exclusive IA Podcast Rob Arnott, chairman of Research Affiliates explains why fundamental weighting is superior to weighting indexes by market capitalization.
October 16, 2006
Hedge Funds: Still Risky BusinessDespite Amaranth's $6-billion one-week loss in September, the largest in hedge fund history, industry sources agree that the effect was little more than a blip. The fund did not default on any of its counterparty obligations, and the impact on global financial systems was essentially negligible. However, the sheer size...
October 16, 2006
Rarefied Air for StocksThe stock market had another good showing last week with the Dow Jones industrial average making new all-time highs and the S&P 500 posting recovery highs. Bond yields spiked higher for the second straight week while crude oil tested the recent lows in the $57 per barrel area.
October 15, 2006
Total Ordinary Reinsurance AssumedReflecting a tightening of the reinsurance market, total ordinary reinsurance assumed dropped 51.33% in 2005, according to data culled earlier this year in an annual ...
October 08, 2006
Is Your 401(k) Plan Perfect ?There are many weak small business 401(k) plans.Many plans worked fine when they were originated. However, as the plans grew, costs may not have stayed ...
October 06, 2006
Merrill Lynch Investment Management and BlackRock Merger CompleteBlackRock Inc. and Merrill Lynch Investment Management have completed the merger of their investment management businesses, creating a company that will have more than $1 trillion in assets under management, operating chiefly under the BlackRock name.
October 06, 2006
Fewer Firms Increasing DividendsStandard & Poor's announced that of the approximately 7,000 publicly owned companies that report dividend information to Standard & Poor's Dividend Record, only 377 increased their dividend during the third quarter of 2006. This represents a 3.6% decline from the 391 issues that increased their dividend during the third quarter...
October 02, 2006
The Case for True Diversification--Searching for Alpha, October 2006It's been a long six years for investors in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. After a spectacular third quarter this year, the oldest index of U.S. stocks is now a breath away from the all-time high of 11,722.98 set on January 14, 2000.(Searching for Alpha, the monthly index newsletter for...