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 [...]
Morningstar has just released the winners of the U.S. Fund Manager of the Year awards. Apollo congratulates the teams at Dodge & Cox and PRIMECAP in particular - two of our longtime favorite shops. Proof positive that a logical, sustainable and repeatable process yields long-term, risk-adjusted success despite what short-sighted, ROR-focused index comparisons might suggest.
They buy us with what they sell. That’s right. The financial services industry tells us investing is easy and we should all “beat the market.” Big Media reinforces this “truth” by highlighting random acts of stupidity that somehow prove “successful.” Sadly most accounts are pure weapons grade BS. Making matters worse is our fear of [...]
Generally qualified retirement accounts such as pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs offer good and meaningful protections from creditors. Traditionally under federal bankruptcy laws (states offer varying levels of protection) up to $1.25 million in an IRA has been protected from creditors. A 2014 Supreme Court ruling, however, reduced the protections afforded if the funds are held [...]
In many ways technology has lowered the cost of service delivery. For a nominal cost the friendly automated voice of the credit card company allows us to “press 1” to find out our balance. Similarly we can contact a customer service rep halfway around the world when we need to speak with someone. The question [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
Can someone selling a product be looking out for the best interests of his/her customer? One’s individual intentions are irrelevant. What’s inherent in the business model is what drives behavior. MorningstarAdvisor provides this article explaining rather clearly how consumers of financial advice must take caution in determining where they get their information and the motives/incentives [...]