The term ‘Smart Beta’ is being heard more and more in investment discussions these days. It’s not clear, however, what this actually means. One famous financial economist – Bill Sharpe (the winner of the Nobel prize for his work on the Capital Asset Pricing Model, or CAPM) – actually called it a complete misnomer. As
The term ‘canary in the coal mine’ refers to the days when coal miners faced the problem of detecting the build-up of the extremely toxic, but effectively unobservable gasses such as carbon monoxide. Taking a canary in a cage down into the mine provided them with an effective early warning system – when the bird
A recent article in the Financial Times, by John Authers, has highlighted some key developments in the passive/active fund management debate. The article discusses the apparent contradiction that growth in the use of passive products, internationally, has stimulated the demand for active asset managers. One person Authers interviewed put the following perspective forward: “(w)hat I
The recent interventions by Russia in the Crimean province of Ukraine represent the biggest current threat to the stability of financial markets. Understanding what Vladimir Putin is up to requires a review of the area’s history going back to at least the Second World War. It is also important to understand that a secession of the
