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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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The control delusion
It shouldn’t really be a surprise by now, but when it comes to investment we humans are nowhere near the cool and calculating machines...
Robin Powell
Sep 26, 20213 min read
Hedge funds: the end of an era?
By LARRY SWEDROE 25 years ago, there were approximately $300 billion of assets invested in hedge funds. Today, that figure has increased...
Robin Powell
Sep 24, 20217 min read
China's crackdown on capitalism: how worried should we be?
What is going on in China? Billionaire tech magnates being pushed around, private education companies having their wings clipped, and...
Robin Powell
Sep 23, 20214 min read
Why active managers face a tough end to the year
We often hear from active fund managers that we're entering a period when stockpickers will shine. We rarely hear them admit that their...
Robin Powell
Sep 22, 20212 min read
Paying attention to "online buzz" harms returns — research
By LARRY SWEDROE In his 1998 paper, Do Investors Trade Too Much? (the answer was yes for retail clients of discount brokerage firms),...
Robin Powell
Sep 21, 20213 min read
Planning for old age: stop putting it off
Robin writes: Like most people, I don't like to dwell on growing old. But two recent events in my life have forced me to think about it —...
Robin Powell
Sep 19, 20212 min read
The index effect: how serious is it?
Critics of indexing have often pointed to the index effect as an example of how passive investing distorts market pricing. But detailed...
Robin Powell
Sep 18, 20212 min read
What does salience theory tell us about stock returns?
By LARRY SWEDROE While traditional asset pricing theory assumes investors to be “economically rational” and to use all available...
Robin Powell
Sep 17, 20215 min read
Why do councils waste so much money on pensions?
Britain’s cash-strapped local councils are struggling to keep libraries open and pot-holes filled. So why are they overpaying by hundreds...
Robin Powell
Sep 16, 20212 min read
Do institutional asset managers possess skill?
By LARRY SWEDROE Since 2002 S&P Dow Jones Indices has published its S&P Indices Versus Active ( SPIVA ) Scorecard, which compares the...
Robin Powell
Sep 14, 20216 min read
Don’t let your investments go the way of the CD
Thematic investing might sound appealing, but beware of investing in headlines rather than for meeting your goals.
Robin Powell
Sep 12, 20213 min read
Reviewers wanted for my new book
Robin writes: I’ve co-written a book with the highly respected financial blogger and author Ben Carlson about investing. It’s called...
Robin Powell
Sep 11, 20212 min read
Leveraged ETFs: another product for the junk pile
By LARRY SWEDROE The use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has exploded, to the benefit of investors. They benefit from the structure of...
Robin Powell
Sep 10, 20214 min read
Where will the next shock come from?
It’s a fact of life that economic shocks are never too far away. Yes, we’re still recovering from the last one — the COVID-19 pandemic....
Robin Powell
Sep 9, 20215 min read
The value of a sense of security
Welcome to the latest in our series on the reasons why people should consider paying for professional financial advice. In Maslow’s...
Robin Powell
Sep 8, 20213 min read
Are Dimensional funds worth the extra cost?
There's a big difference in cost between funds — and that includes passive, or broadly passive, funds. Dimensional funds, for example,...
Robin Powell
Sep 7, 20215 min read
There's gold in green
If there is one undeniable trend in finance, it has been the growing interest in green, or sustainable, investing. The focus on...
Robin Powell
Sep 6, 20214 min read
Most stocks are duds (yes, you read that right)
By LARRY SWEDROE Highlighting the riskiness of individual stock selection, recent research has demonstrated that around the globe the...
Robin Powell
Sep 3, 20216 min read
Don't rush into buying a holiday home
Most of us us have dreamed at some stage of owning a holiday home. Around half a million UK households already do — and the number is...
Robin Powell
Sep 2, 20212 min read
Greenwashing: How widespread is it?
ESG investing has grown hugely in recent years. But a lack of consistency in product labelling and disclosure has raised investor fears...
Robin Powell
Aug 31, 202112 min read
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