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What is evidence-based investing?
Nobody can establish who first used the phrase 'evidence-based investing', and no regulator defines it. Robin Powell, who was given the name by Larry Swedroe in 2015 and is sometimes wrongly credited with coining it, sets out what it actually means: four tests of what counts as evidence, borrowed from a medical parallel that hit the same crisis twelve years ago. Including where he goes further than a global tracker, and why he holds that position less firmly than he used to.

Robin Powell
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Leveraged ETFs: a high-risk gamble you shouldn't take
Leveraged ETFs promise double or triple the market's daily return. What they actually deliver, according to Morningstar's latest research, is high fees, high volatility and a strong tendency to lose money for the investors who hold them.

Robin Powell
Feb 21, 20254 min read


Exposure to emerging markets makes sense
We live in a global economy, yet many investors still have portfolios focused mainly on developed markets. A common blind spot is a lack...

Robin Powell
Feb 21, 20253 min read


Don't underestimate the risks of buy to let
Property investment is a popular strategy in many countries. One particular approach, buy to let, has gained widespread appeal because of rising house prices. But that popularity can mask some of the key dangers. Investors often overlook the risks of concentrating wealth in a single asset class like property. Professor JENS HAGENDORFF from King’s College London warns that many buy to let investors are underestimating the potential downside, especially compared to stock market

Robin Powell
Feb 17, 20253 min read


Does your fund manager punch walls?
People often think that fund managers are immune to the emotions that afflict ordinary investors, but they aren't.

Robin Powell
Feb 14, 20255 min read


Should the growth of indexing concern investors?
The popularity of indexing has grown dramatically in recent years. Some financial commentators even claim we are heading for an indexing...

Robin Powell
Feb 14, 20253 min read


What does ESG investing mean?
ESG investing has become a major theme in recent years. The initials stand for Environmental, Social, and Governance, but the term covers...

Robin Powell
Feb 10, 20253 min read


Fees are the most reliable predictor of future returns
The less you pay to invest, the better your future returns are likely to be. That’s the key finding of new research from Morningstar, as...

Robin Powell
Feb 7, 20253 min read


Has sports betting made fund managers less risk-averse?
The growth of sports betting and gambling in general is making fund managers more inclined to take risk, new research suggests

Robin Powell
Feb 3, 20254 min read


Should you buy cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies have surged in popularity, with millions of people across the globe now investing in them. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance...

Robin Powell
Feb 3, 20253 min read


The "purposeful inertia" that preserves the status quo in asset management
Why does asset management move at a snail's pace? A new book claims it's down to the "purposeful inertia" of entrenched interests.

Robin Powell
Jan 27, 20254 min read


It's not all about the biggest stocks
When people think about stock market investing, they tend to focus on the biggest stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and the like. But...

Robin Powell
Jan 27, 20253 min read


Two compelling reasons for indexing
Active fund managers use a range of arguments to justify their higher fees. But the evidence clearly points in a different direction....

Robin Powell
Jan 23, 20253 min read


Stop making predictions
The investing industry loves to make bold predictions. Financial commentators often appear in the media claiming to foresee market trends or economic turning points. But as history has shown, these forecasts are rarely accurate. While some patterns like increased volatility are more predictable, no one truly knows where the market is headed next. That’s why basing your investment decisions on short-term forecasts can do more harm than good. As Professor ELROY DIMSON explains,

Robin Powell
Jan 20, 20253 min read


Is the S&P 500 too concentrated?
If I had £1 for every time I read that index funds are too heavily concentrated in big US tech stocks I would be a very rich man. It is undeniably true. The FT recently reported that the top ten companies accounted for 37.3% of the S&P 500, which, by historical standards, is a very high proportion. Even more remarkably, just 26 stocks made up half the entire value of the index — the lowest number since at least 1980. Several market commentators have warned that rising levels

Robin Powell
Jan 17, 20255 min read


The FCA is risking a bigger scandal than Woodford
The fifth anniversary of the closure of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) is two weeks away. More than 300,000 investors were affected by WEIF’s implosion. Some of them planned to retire by now but are still having to work to recoup the money they lost. Many died without receiving any compensation. You would hope by now the financial industry would have learned the lessons of this sorry saga. Alas I fear it hasn’t, and, five years on, the chance of a recurrence has never

Robin Powell
Jan 5, 20254 min read


Six changes to financial markets that transformed investing
The financial markets have changed beyond all recognition since the late 1960s and early 1970s. But many investment strategies haven't.

Robin Powell
Jan 2, 20256 min read


Should new UK investors use Vanguard Investor?
I’m one of Vanguard’s biggest fans, and I’ve used Vanguard Investor, its personal investing service for UK investors, for many years. As...

Robin Powell
Dec 24, 20242 min read


AI-driven strategies are giving amateur traders the runaround
Amateur traders have always faced an uphill battle to outperform the market, net of costs, over meaningful periods of time. But new...

Robin Powell
Dec 19, 20244 min read


What active funds and budget flights have in common
Yes, annual management fees for actively managed funds are far higher than they are for index funds. But it’s the linked costs of active funds that people don’t consider, and those can be even more significant. Anyone who uses so-called budget airlines will be familiar with what economists call linked costs, or junk fees as Americans tend to call them. Linked costs are secondary expenses that arise as a result of buying a primary product or service. So, for instance, you

Robin Powell
Dec 11, 20244 min read


Frequency of fees can be as important as the quantum
Regular TEBI readers will understand the need to avoid high fees. But new research suggests that the frequency of fees can be just as...

Robin Powell
Nov 27, 20244 min read
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