(The following is an excerpt from a recent article appearing in InvestmentNews.) Investors are assuming too much risk in their portfolios, according to a Vanguard analysis of data from Morningstar. The questions are: Who is responsible, and what can be done about it? As reported in last week's InvestmentNews, the proportion of individual investor assets [...]
What's your life philosophy? Slow and steady wins the race or be the shiniest star in the sky? Richard Bernstein has some ideas.
If your formative years were the 1980s and/or your insomnia has you watching movie reruns at 3:00am then you’ve undoubtedly suffered through WarGames. (EDITOR’S NOTE: The movie is like a car accident – so horrifying that while you know you shouldn’t watch you can’t bear to look away.) One of the movie’s iconic moments comes [...]
Arguably the greatest invention of the last 1,000 years is Gutenberg’s printing press enabling the rapid dissemination of information and subsequent enlightenment of the many and far away. If true then in a similar fashion arguably the worst inventions of the last 1,000 years are things like Twitter and Facebook. To paraphrase an old reporter’s [...]
At Apollo our investment strategies have always included a focus on minimizing risk. There are many tricks to the trade. One we’ve used consistently throughout our 20+ years of advising clients is the inclusion of Merger & Acquisition Arbitrage (“M&A Arb”) in the construction of asset allocations. In its simplest form M&A Arb strategies are [...]
Inherent in most tools is their neutral nature. They’re neither good nor bad. It’s how they’re used that determines their effectiveness. Use a hammer to build a birdhouse and it’s a “good” tool. Use it to bash in your neighbor’s skull and it’s a “bad” tool. Tools also come with a multitude of features. Again [...]
Despite the fact many Americans fear they won’t have enough money to retire a full 42% (sadly that’s not a typo) don’t invest according to a recent survey by GetRichSlowly.org. And why would they? Investing would get in the way of buying those Disney on Ice “Frozen” tickets purchased using the latest iPhone which for [...]
“I'll rise and fall, let me take credit for both.” That’s a lyric from Pearl Jam’s Satan’s Bed. What’s it mean? Songs are personal. The listener can decide. Why do we think of it today? The two sides of the proverbial economic coin come to mind. This morning’s headlines are blaring about Japan falling into [...]
NOTE: Name removed to prevent embarrassment. Last Thanksgiving I had the (insert adjective) of listening to a family member opine about stores that are open on holidays. “It’s a shame people have to work on Thanksgiving.” If only there was a way to resolve this. What could it be? Hmmmm...DON’T SHOP ON THANKSGIVING!!! If one [...]
If you have a 401(k) chances are you own something from American Funds – a 33 fund lineup managed by Capital Research and Management (“CRM”). They may not be a household name like Fidelity or Vanguard but make no mistake – they’re a behemoth at about $1.25 trillion under management. Historically CRM has been happy [...]