Investing

[ad_1] These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs — and Wrecks — America. 2023. Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. Simon & Schuster. In 1970, Milton Friedman penned an influential editorial in The New York Times stating that business had one social responsibility: to increase profits. The Friedman doctrine focuses […]

[ad_1] Introduction What do business development companies (BDCs) and covered call and preferred income strategies have in common? Most obviously, they all offer dividend yields well above those of the S&P 500 and are especially popular among yield-hungry retail investors. Less obviously, all these strategies have underperformed the S&P 500 […]

[ad_1] Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America. 2023. Brendan Ballou. PublicAffairs. People stop in their tracks when they see the cover of the book I’m reading — Plunder — with its frightening depiction of skull and crossbones. “What are you reading? It must not be happy subject matter!” Private […]

[ad_1] For more on crypto valuation, read Valuation of Cryptoassets: A Guide for Investment Professionals by Urav Soni and Rhodri Preece, CFA, from CFA Institute Research and Policy Center. “On behalf of the professional investment community, I am respectfully asking any crypto expert to put together some cogent, coherent concept […]

[ad_1] The United States is a consumption-driven economy. But over the last half century, the US consumer has been weakening in the face of social and economic pressures. In recent years, the US Federal Reserve’s easy money policies along with fiscal stimulus have boosted consumption, but with inflation’s resurgence post-pandemic, […]

[ad_1] Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. 2023. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman. Stripe Press. There is no shortage of advice to improve our diets. There is an “expert” for every taste: from doctors and dieticians to members of Congress (who in 2011 defined […]

[ad_1] “Future State of the Investment Industry” resonates. CFA Institute launched its Research and Policy Center (RPC) this year to be a positive influencing force in the global investment industry, transforming research insights into actions that strengthen markets, advance ethics, and improve investor outcomes for the ultimate benefit of society. […]

[ad_1] Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Applications in Investments, edited by Larry Cao, CFA, is the big winner in 2023. The CFA Institute Research and Policy Center (RPC) focuses on four forward-looking research themes to drive content engagement, action, and outcomes. These themes are Capital Markets (Strengthening the Structural Resiliency of […]

[ad_1] Introduction  A global black swan event — COVID-19 — followed by record inflation and the sharpest upward interest rate trajectory in three decades has bedeviled markets over the last three years. Moreover, the financial markets have undergone structural shifts that call into question the effectiveness of traditional portfolio construction […]

[ad_1] Up until the 2008 credit crunch, the conventional recipe for success in private equity (PE) was straightforward: Just pour in debt and stir. A generous dose of leverage typically spiced up the financing of a transaction.  But the global financial crisis (GFC) turned this money pie into mush. Government-backed […]