Practical analysis for investment professionals 
Looking for a potpourri of content to help you strengthen your leadership, management, and communication skills? Look no further than this month’s roundup to gain insights on managing others, managing yourself, and tips on innovation and sustainability. Read more
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Large sample studies of buy-side investment recommendations have been virtually impossible to execute due to a lack of data. But a new research paper relies on a novel data set compiled by the private social networking website SumZero to show that buy-side stock picks influence asset prices by bringing new information to the marketplace. The authors also find evidence of “wealth transfers” flowing from the broader institutional marketplace to the investment firms represented on SumZero. Read more
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Tse Yung Hoi discusses the possible influence that the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) and RMB Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) schemes will have on the progress of RMB internationalization after Vice Premier Li Keqiang’s recent visit to Hong Kong and the role that the RMB will play in the global monetary system over the next 5 to 10 years. Read more
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Wend Guo, CFA, recently sat down with Tse Yung Hoi to discuss the basic concepts, background, and key milestones of renminbi (RMB) internationalization, as well as lessons to be learned from the internationalization of the Japanese yen. Read more
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We’ve all heard the old adage that diversification is the only free lunch in investing, but Paul Bouchey, CFA, debunked that notion at the CFA Institute Wealth Management 2012 conference in Miami. To be clear, Bouchey did not challenge the notion that we can reduce risk without sacrificing return through diversification. He did, however, call out another free lunch — volatility harvesting. Read more
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Could the derivatives market finally be listening to Albert Einstein? As you may recall, Einstein famously stated, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler,” and according to the Reuters article “Simple Options Thrive in Risky World,” that is exactly what is happening. Simple, plain vanilla options that hedge risk are beating out the more exotic, custom-designed option structures. Read more
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Do soft skills really matter as much as technical skills in terms of career success? Our career services representative, Julia VanDeren, has frequent interactions with recruiting and training and development managers, and she has heard a lot of consistency in terms of their top priority for employee development. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s listening. Read more
2 CommentsThis Take 15 interview with James M. Edmonds, CFA, sheds light on the intricacies and challenges of performance reporting for high-net-worth investors and financial advisers. Mr. Edmonds also discusses the GIPS standards for firms managing private wealth clients and the appropriate benchmarks. Read more
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Many institutions involved in the financial skullduggery that caused the 2008 crisis had adopted codes of ethics long before the housing bubble burst. Even Enron had espoused lofty ideals in it’s official code. So why aren’t codes effective in deterring unethical behavior? Read more
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