Eric Balchunas shares smart-beta flows since the election. Breakdown of smart-beta flows since election. Value ETFs, so hot right now. Value ETFs. pic.twitter.com/ToO0bACLoL — Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 19, 2017 Not surprisingly, this lines up pretty well with how these different risk factors have performed over this time. ETFs have given investors the perfect vehicle…

Anyone can solve the equation 6+6+6+6. But ask somebody to calculate 6x6x6x6 without a machine and they’re going to look at you cross-eyed. The human brain was designed for linear, not exponential processing. The other day I joked about the Dow reaching 2,000,000 by the year 2099, a one hundred fold gain from today’s prices. I was…

Last week, Morningstar published their Asset Flows Commentary for 2016. As you can see in the chart below, active funds have had more outflows in each of the last two years than they did in 2008. Below, I pulled some of the notable numbers (emphasis mine). Among U.S. equity funds, passively managed funds–led by Vanguard’s offerings–took…

“Three causes especially have excited the discontent of mankind; and, by impelling us to seek remedies for the irremediable, have bewildered us in a maze of madness and error. These are death, toil, and the ignorance of the future” – Charles Mackay People spend a lot of time thinking about the future, it’s part of…

Amazon is the sixth largest company in the S&P 500 by market cap. Incredibly, they wear this crown despite having earned less than 121 different companies over the previous twelve months. It’s no secret that Amazon is an expensive stock.  Even if Bezos were to capture 100% of the total retail revenue, its price-to-earnings ratio…

The S&P 500 is about to wrap up its eight consecutive year of positive returns. If this continues into next year, it would match the longest streak of all-time. For some context, in the nine years from 1991-1999, the S&P 500 gained 450%; In the recent 8 year period, the S&P 500 is up 193%….

“Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.” – Randy Pausch When I finished reading When Breath Becomes Air, my wife walked into our bedroom and found me with tears running down my face. I’m not talking about a single renegade tear that fought its…

Odey Asset Management, a London hedge fund which was seeded by George Soros in 1991, is having a rough year. The fund has lost nearly half its value, because “Passive investing has taken money which typically would have been in the bond market and deposited it in the equity market.” I cannot imagine how an investor feels…

Human beings do not do well with decisions.  Whether we’re wrestling with who to start in fantasy football, which line to get on at the store, which stock to buy, or even what to choose from on a dinner menu, there are certain glitches in our brain that are really hard to avoid. We anchor to…

Richard Feynman once said “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool.” This is true in all walks of life- we think we’re better looking than we really are, we think we’re smarter, better drivers, better parents, and better children. Of all the places…