G'day

This week's Fodder starts with a video and white paper by my friend and regular PortfolioConstruction Forum keynote, Woody Brock. Woody offers his thoughts on four issues that "matter a lot" in his view. When Woody says something matters a lot, we should all sit up and take notice. He's one of the best economic thinkers you'll meet (e.g. his mentor was John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics).  Dominic McCormick discusses the key challenge of successful investing - being different to the crowd. He points to Howard Marks' recent memo (linked to Dom's article, and well worth a read too). Anatole Kaletsky (the Kal in GaveKal) looks at the pricing of Uber - which he says was the most important financial event last week (and last week was a big week with US payroll data, the ECB meeting and Putin softening on Ukraine, so that's saying something). Then, Harvard's Ken Rogoff argues that currency modernisation by central banks is long overdue (i.e. switch from paper to electronic to allow for below zero nominal rates). And, lastly, we feature a really interesting session

from the recent Symposium NZ 2014 program in which Prof Robert MacCulloch discusses the truth as to whether regulation makes markets more efficient or causes markets to produce lower returns - his conclusion is not what you'd expect.
All the best for a great weekend's learning - Graham
P.S. The Symposium NZ 2014 CE quiz will be available early next week.

LATEST...

Four things that matter in 2014 and beyond
Here are some brief thoughts on four issues that matter a lot, in our view. Two have been poorly discussed in the financial press, and the other two have been ignored completely.
Dr Woody Brock, SED | Opinion

Dare to be great – the challenge of being different
Investing differently gives no certainty of great results (increasing the odds of being wrong as well as right). But it is necessary for great performance.
Dominic McCormick, Select Asset Management | Opinion

An Uber bubble awaits
Possibly, last week's most important financial event was not US payroll data, the ECB, or the rapprochement with Putin. It was the pricing of Uber, at 60 times rumoured revenues.
Anatole Kaletsky, GaveKal | Opinion

The 4% non-solution
Moving to a twenty-first-century currency system would make it far simpler to move to a twenty-first-century central-banking regime as well.
Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University | Opinion

Is regulation good or bad for investment markets?
Recorded at the recent Symposium 2014, this session examined the truth as to whether regulation makes markets more efficient or causes markets to produce lower returns.
Prof Robert MacCulloch, University of Auckland | Resources

Other good reads
Networks and hierarchies - Niall Ferguson contends that for all the world’s states - democratic and undemocratic alike - the new informational, commercial, and social networks of the internet age pose a profound challenge, the scale of which is only gradually becoming apparent.

RECENTLY...

The Great Backlash
Today's backlash against trade and globalisation should be viewed in the context of what, as we know from experience, could come next.
Nouriel Roubini, Roubini Global Economics | Opinion

What a wonderful world - around the world in 60 minutes
Recorded at the recent Symposium 2014, Jonathan discusses the prospects of four key economies - the US, Europe, Japan and China - and the implications for portfolios.
Jonathan Pain, The Pain Report | Resources

Fureyous: How often should we rebalance portfolios?
Across the industry, portfolio rebalancing is the norm - with little agreement on the optimal frequency. So I experimented to find out which frequency is best.
Michael Furey, Delta Research & Advisory | 2 comments | Opinion

Home price beliefs in Australia
Are we any good at estimating the values of our homes? Surprisingly, on average we are, according to a RBA study. It also found a link to weightings of risky assets in portfolios.
Angela Ashton, PortfolioConstruction Forum | Research

Behaviour in the spotlight
New NZ FMA CEO, Rob Everett, gave an interesting briefing by way of introduction. It contained two strong warnings focused on adviser behaviour.
Tony Vidler, Strictly Business | Opinion

Other good reads
Unstoppable $100 trillion bond market renders models useless - Bond-market professionals including the US Federal Reserve are reassessing whether they're using the right tools to determine whether bonds are cheap or expensive.

PLUS...

Symposium NZ 2014 - Resources Kit
The most successful Symposium program yet (96% of delegates rating it good or excellent, the 2014 program featured an outstanding Faculty of 15+ international and local investment professionals presenting on contemporary and emerging portfolio construction issues. Whether you attended Symposium 2014 or not, this Resources Kit will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking, giving you a baker's dozen of expert, high conviction ideas to consider applying when building portfolios.

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