Forum Fodder | Friday 31 July 2020
"Many of us are pondering when things will return to normal. The short response is: never." - Excerpt from "COVID-19: The Great Reset" by Klaus Schwab, founder of World Economic Forum and Thierry Malleret, founder of Monthly Barometer (July 2020)
All the best for another week's continuing education! - Graham
P.S. "All things considered..." webinar 2 Friday 07 August 2020 - Market pricing goes to the heart of everything we do. But if the risk-free rate is artificial due to central bank manipulation of interest rates, the impact on asset allocation is significant. Registration opens Monday 03 August 2020.

LATEST ON-DEMAND CE...

Markets
Revisiting the white swans of 2020
In February, I warned any number of foreseeable crises - "white swans" - including Covid-19, could trigger a massive global disturbance in 2020. Many are now in play. Why are financial markets ignoring these risks?
Nouriel Roubini, PhD, New York University | More

Finology
Stop calling product recommendations advice
Regardless of how QSuper justifies their focus on limited advice, they cannot justify calling it advice. It is a product recommendation.
Jim Stackpool, Certainty Advice Group | More

Philosophy | Markets | Investing | Editor's Pick!
Research Review: SRI, ESG and controversial investing
Research finds that SRI funds perform as well as conventional funds, ESG equity investing has outperformed in the US, and controversial stocks do best in crises.
Ron Bird, Investment Management Research Program | 1.00 CE | More

Finology
Research Review: Mental Accounting
Humans categorise and form stories about their world - including their financial lives. Two recent papers emphasise the implications of mental accounting, particularly for any investment professional in a client-facing role.
Rob Hamshar, Portfolio Construction Forum | 1.00 CE | More

Finology  | Editor's Pick!
New Word Order - It’s not what you say, it’s what they hear
The way investors respond to the language of financial services can be influenced by using the right words, avoiding others, and structuring messages to overcome skepticism.
Gary DeMoss, Invesco Consulting | 0.50 CE | More

Every fibre of my being
Based on the US 10-year real yield versus gold chart, an investor needs to be thinking about where real yields are headed. Do you have any favoured indicators?...
Peter Eichmann, Park Street Group | Comment

Finology | Invitation to investment advisers
Complimentary survey to benchmark your Client Care & Practice knowledge and skills
FASEA requires that financial advisers continually improve their client care and practice knowledge and skills - doing so makes obvious business sense, as well. Our new Finology Benchmarking Indices (FBI) is the only benchmarking tool for this area of knowledge and skill - and it's complimentary to our investment adviser members while we continue to develop the service.
Take the Finology Benchmarking Indices survey

UPCOMING LIVE CE...

Markets | Strategies | Investing
"All things considered..." webinar 2, Friday 07 August 2020 - Market pricing
Market pricing goes to the heart of everything we do. But if the risk-free rate is artificial due to central bank manipulation of interest rates, the impact on asset allocation is significant. As a starting point, the case for cash and bonds in portfolios is significantly diminished. The All Things Considered series builds towards Strategies Conference 2020: "It's a whole new world". Registration opens Monday 03 August 2020.

Strategies
Strategies Conference 2020 "It's a whole new world"
We are looking forward to presenting Strategies Conference 2020 as a live online "hybrid" program. Mark your diary! 30 Sep to 01 Oct 2020.
Meanwhile "attend" Strategies Conference 2019 "20/20 vision" on-demand

UPCOMING CERTIFICATION...

Certified Investment Management Analyst^® (CIMA^®)
Are you involved in any aspect of constructing multi-manager portfolios?
CIMA certification is the peak, international technical portfolio construction certification program designed for investment management analysts – that is, those involved in any aspect of constructing multi-manager portfolios, whether practitioner or advocate. Stand For More - more knowledge, skill and expertise - with CIMA certification.
Enrolments are now open for the next intake

RECENT ON-DEMAND CE...

Markets
China as economic bogeyman
Much of the new push for industrial policy in the US and Europe is motivated by the perceived Chinese "threat". But economic considerations suggest this is the wrong focus.
Dani Rodrik, Harvard University | More

Finology
Research Review: Regret
Two research papers exploring regret can help us improve how investment decision-making and outcomes are framed with clients and offer deeper insight into clients' personal and financial goals and priorities.
Rob Hamshar, Portfolio Construction Forum | 1.00 CE | More

Philosophy | Strategies | Editor's Pick!
The case for a barbell investment strategy
What strategy should a rational investor, completely free of constraints, take to preserve wealth while making modest long-term gains? To do so will not be easy over the next two decades.
Dr Woody Brock, SED | 1.00 CE | 1 comment | More

Markets | Strategies | Editor's Pick!
When navigating uncertainty, breadth trumps depth
To succeed within the ever-shifting context in which investment decisions are made, investors should adopt a multi-lens approach. Context matters, and siloed thinking can be detrimental.
Vikram Mansharamani, Harvard University | 1.00 CE | More

Finology | Editor's Pick!
Move over risk/return profiles: Values define client’s needs
Only by making the effort to understand and align investment beliefs with values can we get a sharper understanding of our clients' true objectives and provide solutions that will really meet their needs.
Tassos Stassopoulos, Trinetra Investment Management | 0.50 CE | More

Markets | Finology
Understanding the pandemic stock market
The performance of stock markets during the coronavirus pandemic seems to defy logic - until one considers possible explanations based on crowd psychology.
Robert J. Shiller, Yale University | 1 comment | More

Markets
Every fibre of my being
We are at the half way mark for 2020, and every fibre of my being tells me that the next six months will see many more extraordinary events. Covid-19 can be seen as the great accelerant, or amplifier.
Jonathan Pain, The Pain Report | 2 comments | More

Markets | Strategies
Q&A: Disconnected fundamentals and market valuations
Valuations in both equities and bonds are near their pre-Covid levels, yet the US economy is in recession and 40 million people are unemployed. What should investors be doing in their portfolios?
Robert Gay, Fenwick Advisors | More

Strategies | Editor's Pick!
The need for flexible retirement spending rules
As life expectancies improved, the "Financial Independence, Retire Early" (FIRE) movement was born. But a very long time in "retirement" requires more flexible spending rules.
Michael Kitces, Buckingham Wealth Partners | 1 comment | More

Finology | Editor's Pick!
Applying language research to real life conversations
Practitioners need to know what words to use and lose - and be able to apply that knowledge - to improve their conversations with clients about fees, regulations and investment strategies.
Gary DeMoss, Invesco Consulting | 1.50 CE | More

PLUS MORE ON-DEMAND CE...

Forum CE Library - over 540 CE/CPD hours
Complimentary for all Forum members, the Forum's online on-demand CE Library offers over 540 CE/CPD hours of accredited learning resources, to help members meet the CE/CPD requirements of 16 governing bodies (regulators, associations, and institutes) - including ASIC, APRA, FASEA, FMA, AFA, FPA and CIMA^® CE/CPD requirements, to name a few.
More

Forum CIMA CE Library - over 75 CE hours
This subset of the full Forum CE Library features just those learning resources that are accredited for CIMA CE hours, so CIMA certificants can more easily find learning resources to meet their recertification obligation (at the same time as meeting the CE/CPD requirements of other governing bodies e.g. ASIC, APRA, FASEA, FMA, etc). 
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