Insights

This blog is the fourth in a four-part series on factors of return. A review of the historical results of the value premium may help provide you better understanding of the long term effects of value exposure within your portfolio. (The value premium is the incremental return of stocks of companies with low relative price over the return of stocks of companies with high relative price.) Over short periods we’ve observed a volatile U.S. value premium. The standard deviation of
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  Whenever markets take a dip, it’s natural to question performance. Is my portfolio behaving differently than it should? Is this downturn worse than the last one? Is it different this time? In general, globally-diversified investors can answer “NO” to all of the above. We looked at the range of returns of a 65% stock, 35% bond allocation over any 12-month period back to 1972. The chart above shows vari­ous time periods with a high, low and average return represented.
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When you hear the word “science” you might immediately think of test tubes, lab coats and your favorite — or least favorite — subject in school. But the kind of science we’re talking about has nothing to do with microscopes and everything to do with financial research and analysis — all intended to decrease guesswork and speculation while increasing understanding, confidence and, potentially, returns for your portfolio. Welcome to financial science. Landmark Research and Discoveries Over the last several decades,
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This blog is the third in a four-part series on factors of return. The first two blogs, Evaluating Factors of Expected Return and A Closer Look at the Market Premium, can be found below. A review of the historical results of the small premium may help provide you an understanding of long term performance specific to small cap stocks, domestic and international. (The small premium is defined as the incremental return of stocks of companies with low market capitalization over the
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With interest rates at all-time lows in the U.S. and negative in other parts of the world, investors are desperately searching for ways to create sustainable income from their investment portfolios. Below are three strategies that can potentially be used for creating income. Higher-Yielding Bonds The first place investors usually turn is bonds with longer maturities, lower credit ratings or some combination of both. Here are the risks you need to understand. First, as interest rates increase, the prices on
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