Benoit Mandelbrot’s “The (Mis)behavior of Markets” Mandelbrot’s book is both interesting and disturbing. Interesting because he not only takes the reader through the basic ideas behind the history/evolution of finance theory as practiced today, but also some of the stories of the people who were the originators of the ideas; disturbing, because he asserts (reminds […]
Pension Research Council Papers on Decumulation and Robust DC Pension Plans The Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research at UPen’s Wharton provides access to readers interested in pension to current research papers from high calibre sources. They have just posted 15 new research papers. I found a couple of these papers particularly interesting, one […]
Impressions of the Whitehorse Pension Conference In a Nutshell There were no recommendations and no actions coming out of the meeting. Another conference planned for May 2010. Despite the data presented and the optimistic assumptions used to generate it, the conclusion of the Mintz report is that (mostly) all is well with Canada’s pension system. […]
Wall Street Revalued by Andrew Smithers Andrew Smithers’s book “Wall Street Revalued” is not a light read, but it is interesting reading. It is based on two principles: (1) assets can be objectively valued, and (2) it is important for central bankers to adjust policies when asset values are substantially inconsistent with underlying values. Not […]
“The Investor’s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between” by William Bernstein In a nutshell Must read book for investors; Bernstein calls it the way he sees it. He starts off with the observation that only a very small minority of investors will succeed at managing their own investments (this by the way […]
Nortel Settlement Agreement- What’s in it for pensioners? In a nutshell The Nortel Settlement agreement offers pensioners about a $2,000 value now, while it forces pensioners to forgo a potential of up 5-50 times as much upside later, if a successful fight can mounted to receive claims priority and/or action against Nortel, its Board, Officers […]
“The Ascent of Money” by Niall Ferguson In a nutshell If you are interested in the history of finance, its visionaries and innovators, the financial products whether toxic and otherwise, explanation of financial terms, and how the financial industry through its greed and stupidity almost (at least for now) plunged us into the next Great […]
Retirement Income System Consultations Spring 2010 (The following, with minor changes, was sent as input to Canada’s Department of Finance request for input on Retirement Income System reform.) The current Pillars 1 and 2 (CPP/OAS/GIS) work adequately for population earning less than median Canadian incomes. Pillar 3, the DB and DC/RRSP system, which is the […]
CFA 2010 Conference Highlights In a nutshell Here are highlights of what I heard and you might find of interest; any errors or misrepresentations are my fault alone as the following may not accurately represent the views of various speakers mentioned. -financial industry: lost its way, not obeying laws of capitalism, capitalism’s price mechanism doesn’t […]
There are risks, but I’ll stay with ETFs for my money: ETF concerns- Has anything changed? In a nutshell Yes there are risks everywhere, but I am sticking with ETFs so long as they are used as they were intended to be. Broad/diversified asset classes (except where accessing in a limited application otherwise inaccessible asset […]
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