Reading Time: 4 minutes Contrary to first impressions, big wave surfing is all about risk management. In the late 1980’s legendary Hawaiian big wave surfer Brian Keaulanu looked at the new models of jet ski that were being produced like the Yamaha Waverunner that allowed the rider to sit down, and had a flash of inspiration. He realised that … More We’re all risk managers now
Reading Time: 9 minutes No plan survives first contact with the enemy Herman Von Mutke the Elder During a speech in November 1957 Eisenhower told an anecdote about the maps used during U.S. military training. Maps of the Alsace-Lorraine area of Europe were used during instruction before World War I, but educational reformers decided that the location was not … More Planning once you’ve been punched in the mouth – 3 more questions
Reading Time: 6 minutes There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen. Lenin Yes, so in case you are wondering we ARE in the Lenin quotes phase of this crisis (Warren Buffet quotes was first week of March, Charlie Munger second week of March and Peter Lynch third week of March, since you asked). … More Three questions we are all asking in this market
Reading Time: < 1 minute Re-affirm your investment objective ( for framing, context) and your process 2. Run through each of your holdings and remind yourself why you own it 3. Check your mandates are performing as expected given conditions 4. Remind yourself how often drawdowns usually occur – put things into historical context 5. Count how many of the … More 15 productive things investors can do in a market downturn
Reading Time: 2 minutes And the winner is … La La Land!! You might remember this one. Oscars night in 2017. Award for best picture. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunnaway presenting. The entertainment world waiting with baited breath as Beatty hesitated -playing with the audience- as the winner of the best picture was to be announced … But it … More Complex systems and an Oscar-worthy f*** up
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s never been a greater need for long-term investment to replace decaying global infrastructure and navigate serious challenges like climate change. But long-term investment programs are rife with challenges and there is no guarantee of success. That’s the premise of an ambitious book (Patient Capital) by Harvard Business School professors Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner. … More Patient capital in the 21st century
Reading Time: 2 minutes How Many Pizzas Jeff Bezos famously said that the number of attendees at a meeting ought to be such that two pizzas could feed eveyone there. realreturns.blog 3 Rare Skills That Make Presentations Clear and Memorable Bad communication is like a tax we all collect from each other continuously, every year, and every day. … More 6 Most-read blogs of 2019
Reading Time: 3 minutes Remind me of this in 10 years and we’ll see how many of these were close … A lot changes in a decade – just look back to 2010, but how much of it was realistically predictable at the time? That’s hard. Imagine if in your 2009 market outlook you said “By 2019 we expect … More A view from 2030 – 20 crazy ideas for the next decade
Reading Time: < 1 minute At the start of the current decade … We had a labour prime minister in Downing Street and a democrat president in the white house. The FTSE was at 5400 (today, 7400) the S&P 500 at 1100 (today 3100) and (10 year) gilt yields were above 4%. The largest companies in the world were, Walmart, … More Notes on a decade
Reading Time: 4 minutes What if I told you that this evening you’d get an audience with some of the greatest founders, money managers, authors, researchers and Nobel prizewinners of all time in our industry? People like Robert Shiller, Rob Arnott, Michael Mauboissin, Ben Inker, Rajiv Jain, Cliff Asness, Ray Dalio and even Jack Bogle? You’d be pretty happy … More The 10 Best FinPod Episodes of 2019
