Russell

Best Blogs of the Week #266

Posted by Anu Heda on Apr 03, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two posts covering a range of topics, including the recent US equity slumber.

BlackRock – The seesaw relationship of volatility and momentum stocks – The relationship between volatility and momentum has actually strengthened in recent years. Since the end of the financial crisis and the advent of the current period of extraordinary monetary accommodation, the relationship has become much stronger

William Blair – E and S Themes Drive ESG Growth – McKinsey estimates that 1.6 billion people out of 2 billion without bank accounts—more than half of whom are women— could be assimilated into the system via digital finance.

slumber

 

Best Blogs of the Week #265

Posted by Anu Heda on Mar 27, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two excellent posts this week that utilize data to support arguments frequently discussed and investigated. Russell does an excellent job simplifying (perhaps too simple?) an advisor’s value to an investor. Personally, I enjoyed the investor behavior component greatly (chart below).

Russell – 2017 Value of a fiduciary advisor: more than 4% – Instead, the technical and emotional guidance that only a trusted, human advisor (as opposed to robo-advisors, for instance) can offer to investors who are attempting to undertake the complex job of coordinating the accumulation, distribution and transfer of their wealth, is invaluable – particularly in an environment that is likely to deliver lower returns and higher volatility than investors have grown accustomed to recently.

SSgA – Look Beyond the Label: The Importance of How a Smart Beta Index is Weighted – As these examples demonstrate, understanding underlying index construction is crucial to achieving desired investment results when choosing a smart beta ETF.

value

Best Blogs of the Week #255

Posted by Anu Heda on Jan 03, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , , ,

Three, as in the rule of three. As you may expect, the week between Christmas and New Year’s (plus an extra day) means a significant amount of prognostication. Everyone got the memo: say it in threes! Here are the posts I thought were most influential.

American Century – Trump Policies and Current Market Trends – The housing industry potentially sees headwinds from higher mortgage rates, with the existing trend of rising rates reinforced. Tighter labor markets may also have an impact on cost. The auto industry may also see an impact from rising rates as well as sub-optimal supply chains. In addition, export-oriented companies may see an offset from the impact of a stronger dollar.

BlackRock – Why stock market tranquility is unlikely to last – Political Risk is elevated but not reflected.

Columbia Threadneedle – 3 emerging market charts you need to see – Emerging markets forecasted to outpace developed markets

Rule of Three: Idea #1

Russell – The Low-Return Imperative: Investing uncomfortably – The low return environment is real and it presents investors and their advisors with critical decisions.

SSgA – The Hunt for Yield in 2017: 3 Potential Investment Ideas  – The appearance of high dividends is not necessarily indicative of actual delivery of yield or dividend yield growth.

 

 

Best Blogs of the Week #253

Posted by Anu Heda on Dec 12, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Posts related to DOL rule changes are starting to appear regularly. I thought to highlight the best post on the topic to-date, via Russell Investments.

Russell – The DOL Rule: Tension at the heart of the fiduciary standard – And if fiduciaries focus on following prescriptive rules, then their decisions can only be as good as the rules themselves, rules that are reactive in nature, constantly trailing changing circumstances, and potentially even acting as a barrier to the evolution of best practices.

DOL via Russell

 

Best Blogs of the Week #250

Posted by Anu Heda on Nov 14, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

POTUS 45. There’s not much for me to say that hasn’t been written all over the Internet. From reading 50+ blog posts related to the election, I can affirm asset managers tread lightly with opinion. Asset managers are more comfortable with sharing the news. With that in mind, four excellent posts.POTUS

Loomis Sayles – A Trump White House: Potential Market Impacts of the US Election – Trump’s proposals are structurally inflationary, but which measures will get passed and implemented is a large unknown.

M&G – President-elect Trump. 5 predictions on what happens next in the global economy and markets – Trump may not build a wall. But even if he does, it won’t keep the robots out.

Putnam – What we might expect with a Trump administration agenda – Trump does not have any specific plans to change Social Security or Medicare. He opposes any increase in the retirement age and would oppose raising the wage base for the Social Security payroll tax.

Russell – U.S. elections 2016: Trump wins White House. Markets react. – So we don’t see this election as having a lasting impact on markets.