Examine why short-term economic forecasts often fail to match reality.

The Certain Uncertainty of Short-Run Economic Predictions

Bloomberg published an article near the end of December last year reporting outcomes from its latest monthly economic survey.1 Survey respondents included 38 economists who each offered a forecast for 2023. Like many at the time, the survey results were generally pessimistic about the economy. The survey’s median estimated growth rate for U.S. gross domestic […]

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index concentration

Index Concentration: Have Some Indexes Become Too Top-Heavy?

Market indexes designed to represent total stock markets or broad subsets of a market are generally known to offer investors high levels of diversification. Many well-known indices, like the S&P 500® Index and Russell 3000® Index, hold hundreds or thousands of companies. Yet, by some measures, many major indexes appear more concentrated today than ever.

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behavioral portfolio theory

The Unheralded Contributions of Markowitz to Behavioral Portfolio Theory

“I split my contributions 50/50 between bonds and equities,” Harry Markowitz said in a famous 1998 interview with Jason Zweig.1 Markowitz readily admitted that he did not compute co-variances and draw a mean-variance efficient frontier. “Instead, I visualized my grief if the stock market went way up, and I wasn’t in it —or if it

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Third Quarter 2023 – Quarterly Market Review

OVERVIEW: Market Summary World Stock Market Performance World Asset Classes US Stocks International Developed Stocks Emerging Markets Stocks Select Market Performance Select Currency Performance vs. US Dollar Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Commodities Fixed Income Global Fixed Income Impact of Diversification Quarterly Topic: When Value Delivers CONTINUE READING

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It's Personal: Can Personalization Improve Nudges on Financial Decisions?

It’s Personal: Can Personalization Improve Nudges on Financial Decisions?

The philosophy of “nudging” individuals toward better choices and outcomes, rather than relying on financial incentives or outright restrictions, has become a major topic within the past decade. Financial services companies have enthusiastically adopted nudging, especially for encouraging customers to save more within retirement plans. Typical nudges include defaults in initiating savings and scheduled escalations,

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focusing on the horizon- tuning out the noise with valuations and returns

Focus on the Horizon: Tuning Out the Noise with Valuations and Returns

Valuations of publicly traded companies are a frequent topic of conversation among investors and for good reason. Valuation ratios tell us the price of stocks relative to fundamentals like earnings, sales, and book value. In other words, valuation ratios are an excellent way to understand the long-term attractiveness of groups of stocks relative to: a)

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