Evidence Based Investing

Venezuela slides into the abyss

The Venezuelan economy is in freefall. In the last 5 years, their economy has shrunk by 50%, amidst shortages in medicines, food, and other material basics, inflation is over 500,000%, (and the IMF projects it to be 1 million percent by year-end). According to U.N. estimates, nearly 2.3 million Venezuelans have left the country over the last 2-3 years (about 7% of the population). The currency has collapsed too, as confidence implodes, with some wags now suggesting that the State TV broadcaster drops their version of “Who wants to be a millionaire” as even the jackpot is now worthless – 1 million Bolivars is currently worth about £3.09. In mid-August, President Maduro announced a 95% devaluation

Hedge Fund Hell

Evidence Based Investing | September 7, 2018

Around 2 years ago we talked about the performance (or lack thereof) of Hedge funds and wondered whether they would survive – they clearly have done so, but the self-styled “smartest guys in the room” are now resembling the dumbest creatures on the planet. After 2017’s volatility-free rise, the masters of the universe unanimously agreed that when Volatility picked up they would be on hand to benefit. A fall in February did indeed allow them to (briefly) shine, such that by the end of April they were up 0.4% year-to-date versus a 0.4% fall for the S&P 500 over the same time frame. It did not last though – as the major indices saw a succession of new all-time highs going into August, the (equity) hedge fund returns fell to -1%, whilst the S&P 500 rose 8% as of mid-August. What went wrong (this time)?

The Winner Takes it All

Evidence Based Investing | August 24, 2018

“Whoever has the sword will have the earth.” – Oliver North. The “Matthew Effect”is a term coined by the Sociologist Robert Merton to describe how eminent scientists get more recognition for their work than do less well-known researchers and thus get more funding and so on in a seemingly virtuous circle of success. A similar story appears to be playing out in asset markets, too, with the US seemingly impervious to bad news and now homing in on new all time record highs for both the Dow and the S&P 500 – the NASDAQ Index managed that last month. But the laurels are not being shared equally as the following charts show. Year-to-Date, there have been some big fallers, particularly in less-developed markets and the MSCI Emerging Market has, over the last 10 and a half years been trounced even by the dunce of the developed world class, the FTSE All-Share Index.

Valuing the Future

Evidence Based Investing, Factor Based Investing | August 10, 2018

Value investing at its core is the marriage of a contrarian streak and a calculator. Seth Klarman- Hedge Fund Value Investor. We touched on this subject at the end of April, but thought it might be a good idea to look at the subject of present and future value discounting in more detail. Last week the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.25% to 0.75%; although Mortgage rates moved at the speed of light, (I got an e-mail from HSBC telling me that my mortgage was going up 2 and a half hours later!), it appears that savings rates will be moving at a more sedate (or glacial) pace. Many of the newer UK house buyers have not seen a rate rise at all (as we have been stuck at or below 0.5% since 2009), and the effect on consumer spending and confidence is unclear.

The X (minus one) Factor?

Evidence Based Investing, Factor Based Investing | June 22, 2018

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” ― Confucius We return once again to the subject of Value (last discussed c.18 months ago). In truth, not much has changed, except that the chart below now shows an underperformance of Value vis-a-vis Growth of c.4% per annum annualised compared to 2.73% over the period shown in the December 2016 blog post. This has left many (including ourselves) in a quandary. Nearly all of the arguments advanced in the previous blog are still valid (if not more so!), but it has not, aside from a brief 6-month recovery in the second half of 2016, amounted to much; if anything, Growth has recovered with renewed vigour in the last 3 months.

Looking for Black Swans

Evidence Based Investing, Market Commentary | June 15, 2018

“Consider a turkey that is fed every day. Every single feeding will firm up the bird’s belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race “looking out for its best interests,” as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief. ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Having relatively little to do at the moment, analysts appear to be playing the spot the “black swan” game, with attention focussed on the likely cause of the next market hyperventilation. A recent Deutsche Bank study suggests that financial crises are occurring with increasing frequency of late, defined by them as a 15% stock market fall, a 10% foreign exchange rate decline a 10% drop in bonds, a 10% rise in inflation or a sovereign default.

Cracks Emerging in Markets

Evidence Based Investing, Market Commentary | June 8, 2018

“Invest in emerging market debt for value and diversification, not for “safety,” betting against the U.S. dollar, or an inflation hedge” – Tina Vandersteel, Grantham, May, Van Otterloo & Company (US Hedge fund).

Stiff Competition

Evidence Based Investing, Market Commentary | April 27, 2018

“It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better” – Gianni Versace.

In Praise of Diversity

Evidence Based Investing | April 20, 2018

“You will always hate something in your portfolio. Really, really hate it”. James Osbourne (Bason Asset Management) October 2014. We often get communications from advisors telling us that they have clients who have concerns with regard to one (or more) of their holdings in EBI Portfolios, which for whatever reason are doing badly at that point. What follows is an attempt to explain why the portfolio is diversified and how (and why) this methodology works.Looking at the One Year chart for EBI 100 (Home Bias) it is not hard to spot the outlier; Global Property has lagged badly in the last year (and indeed over two years as well).

Unbalanced Behaviour

Evidence Based Investing | April 6, 2018

This is an up-date to a post I wrote a while ago. “The investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself.” – Benjamin Graham. It is late on a Friday evening, and my local pub is evincing a, ahem, somewhat liberal interpretation of the UK Licensing laws. So, I get two more drinks and settle back down into the corner of the bar to find my friend, (John) returning to his favoured topic, that of his investments and how well he has done since we last met. J: Well, I have had a good run in recent months, despite all the market twists and turns of late. Only last month, I bought into Anglo American shares and made 10% in two weeks! Its gone down since, so I am feeling quite pleased with my efforts.Me: Really? I remember that you also bought Barclays shares a while ago, how is that one going?