by Jim Wiandt

Articles

Infrastructure

by Tony Rochte

The world is growing. As generally reported, China is booming; emerging markets are finally starting to emerge; even developed economies in the U.S. and Europe are enjoying a long period of sustained economic growth. What does that all mean? For one, growing demand for the stuff that makes the world go round, or in a word: infrastructure.

The Truth About Macros

by Jim Wiandt and Matt Hougan

Macros: Rarely has one product excited—and confused—so many investors at the same time. The brainchild of Robert Shiller, Alan Weiss and Sam Masucci, Macros are exchange-traded products with a twist: Rather than being tied to a particular index or commodity, they can be tied to … anything. Real estate prices, unemployment rates, GDP growth, currency fluctuations … they are all game.

Straight Talk:

by John Brennan

It ain’t easy to take over for a legend. But that’s exactly the task that faced John Brennan in 1996, when he was named to succeed John Bogle as CEO of the Vanguard Group.

Variance Among Indexes

by Craig Israelsen, Ph.D.

This article outlines the annual performance differentials between six major index makers: Dow Jones (and DJ Wilshire), Lipper, MSCI, Morningstar, Russell and Standard & Poor’s. More to the point, the article explores “index dependency.”

The Pre-Tax Costs Of Portfolio Turnover

by David Blanchett

The average turnover in mutual funds has increased with time. According to John Bogle (Common Sense on Mutual Funds [2000]), turnover has increased from 30 percent 25 years ago to nearly 90 percent today. Wermers (2000) has similar numbers.

Volatility, Fat Tails And Mean Reversion (Again)

by David Blitzer

The market’s 3.47 percent slide on February 27 brought forth a lot of anxiety, visions of bear markets and questions about how such a big drop could possibly happen.