Top posts from last month included articles on the Japanese debt crisis, the future of quantitative investing, and resources for the development of soft skills. Read more
Leave a CommentApril 2012
How paltry is the U.S. market regulator’s funding? This paltry: Last year Citigroup disposed of assets worth more than the SEC’s entire operating budget. Read more
10 CommentsAlthough target-date retirement funds are a ubiquitous retirement planning tool, their glide paths vary considerably from one provider to the next. Moreover, the glide paths themselves tend to change over time. Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA, discusses the problems associated with benchmarking these instruments and outlines a glide path stability score. Read more
2 Comments
Support within the SEC for money market fund reform remains uncertain, and the reforms could very well be doomed if they don’t win over a majority of the five commissioners. That is, unless the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a creation of the bureaucratic behemoth known as the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, steps in. Politics may soon dominate the debate. Read more
Leave a Comment
M. Barton Waring has succeeded in creating one of the definitive works on the structure and management of defined benefit plans. This indispensable guide for pension advisers dispels any notion of easy solutions to the problems of defined benefit plans, especially underfunding. His sensible solutions are within our grasp if we choose to accept them. Read more
Leave a CommentGreg B. Davies discusses his new book “Behavioral Investment Management: An Efficient Alternative to Modern Portfolio Theory” and explains the concept of “behavioralizing finance” and the implications for the wealth management industry. Read more
Leave a Comment
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for bank secrecy laws? Regulators in the United States and Europe have been chipping away at bank secrecy for some time now. But two recent developments suggest that efforts are not only intensifying but also becoming more globally coordinated. Read more
1 Comment
How best can Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) attract more investments from China? This was the theme of a panel discussion at the inaugural Central and Eastern European Investment Conference that took place in Bucharest, Romania. Read more
Leave a Comment
Social spending is virtually exploding in Japan right now, and at the same time its population is aging. Can the event horizon for a debt crisis be that far off? Read more
46 Comments
Global equity markets posted solid, and in some cases spectacular, gains in the first quarter of 2012. Investor euphoria was short-lived, however, as focus in recent weeks has turned to renewed fears about the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. And in the United States, the Federal Reserve has indicated that further quantitative easing (jet fuel for equity markets) may not be necessary. Read more
2 Comments