William Blair

Best Blogs of the Week #262

Posted by Anu Heda on Feb 27, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with Franklin Templeton, William Blair

Only two posts this week (focused on inflation) and one question.

Franklin Templeton – K2 Advisors : Why We Like Activist Hedge Strategies – It could be said that activist managers in some ways represent the only strategy that generates alpha to some degree. While not always successful, activist funds seek to unlock “hidden” value in the companies they invest in.

William Blair – The Impact of Inflation – In other words, bonds were behaving more like equities. Now that inflation is becoming more apparent, I believe that repricing in the bond market has only just begun.

inflation

Question – do you think this chart proves that ETFs do not cause volatility? It seems to mash two things: ETFs are popular and volatility is low to make a point about causes of volatility. What do you think?

Best Blogs of the Week #261

Posted by Anu Heda on Feb 20, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with aberdeen, BlackRock, William Blair

Quality posts from the last two weeks, led by a captivating post on trade wars.

Aberdeen – Week in review: The return of inflation – Inflation is back. Figures released this week on both sides of the Atlantic painted a picture of rising prices – and the possibility of an end to the days of ultra-low price increases. The UK’s consumer prices index was 1.8% in January – its highest level since June 2014.

BlackRock – Will tax reform hurt tax-exempt bonds? – By our estimates, the market might need to offer some 15 basis points (front end) to 50 basis points (long end) in higher yield to compensate for the reduced tax benefit.

William Blair – Trade Wars: Is Trump Bluffing? – The key is he put a lot of things forward. It creates uncertainty for trade and we don’t know how far he’ll push the actual negotiations, especially with respect to China. This uncertainty will need to be considered when building a portfolio.

Best Blogs of the Week #242

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 07, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with Franklin Templeton, Van Eck, Vanguard, William Blair

Four interesting posts this week highlighted by a game theory discussion via William Blair.

Franklin Templeton – Spotlight on Brazil– Once political stability is restored, tackling much needed structural reforms should be a priority, in our view.

Van Eck – Quality Can Be Rewarding in Emerging Markets Bonds – Overall, investors who maintained exposure to investment grade emerging markets sovereign bonds, with an allocation to BB-rated bonds or 20%, would have earned 7.55% over the past ten years versus 7.83% on the broader emerging markets sovereign index, with lower volatility and higher risk-adjusted returns as measured by the Sharpe ratio.

Vanguard – Do ETFs make the value of the underlying securities more expensive?– … strong or weak flows into certain ETFs or categories do not inflate or deflate prices any more than mutual fund flows or the collective purchases of individual investors into stocks like Apple or Facebook. Rather, ETFs reflect the valuation of the underlying securities they are composed of, which is driven by the collective wisdom of all market participants.

William Blair – Dimensions of Influence Drive Game Theory Analysis – What does this have to do with investing? Game theory provides a way for us to better organize and process the vast amount of information that affects global economies and markets.

the 5-factor spider graph; a Mike McLaughlin favorite

Best Blogs of the Week (SPECIAL – BREXIT II)

Posted by Anu Heda on Jun 27, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with American Century, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, MandG, MFS, Natixis, PIMCO, TIAA, Wells Fargo, William Blair, WisdomTree

Shocking the capital markets globally, the referendum to leave the EU passed. BREXIT. Asset managers were ready with comment. The proceeding table aggregates industry blog posts on Friday (only). This is an impressive volume (e-mail me if you’re seeking a perspective on quality) though as you see very little thought went to titling these posts. Of the titles below, BlackRock and WisdomTree clearly put thought into their respective titles.

Asset Manager	Blog Post
American Century	Our Views on the Brexit Vote
BlackRock	What data can tell us about the Brexit vote 5 key takeaways from the Brexit vote
Fenimore	Brexit & The value of patience
Franklin Templeton	In The Know: The UK Votes to Leave the EU Brexit: How Quickly May the Surprise Wear Off? A Global Macro View of Brexit Implications
Invesco	UK votes for ‘Brexit’ Beyond Brexit: What happens next?
M & G	Bond market reaction to UK “Leave” vote
MFS	Brexit Rattles the Market
Natixis	Brexit Interviews: Implications of the vote Brexit Vote: The New Unknowns
PIMCO	Brexit: Initial Impact and the Road Ahead Brexit’s Impact on the Eurozone
TIAA	Response to Brexit requires long-term perspective – UPDATED
Wells Fargo	Brexit: Buy the dip, or wait? Brexit vote sends shock waves through markets
William Blair	Brexit Update: Our Base Case Scenario
WisdomTree	Sterling’s Structural vs. Euro’s Political Weakness: “Brexit” Opens Opportunities

Best Blogs of the Week #230

Posted by Anu Heda on May 23, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with William Blair

Only one post this week and from William Blair covering the topic of game theory.

William Blair – How We Use Game Theory: Spanish Elections – Singer noted that he believes the market is too pessimistic about Ciudadanos and People’s Party forming a coalition—and that Ciudadanos is the most likely party to concede in negotiations.