May 2009

Weekend reading: 30/5/09

May 30, 2009

Some interesting financial and investing posts I ran across this week, plus a few decent articles from the newspapers.

How to create an Ivy League endowment fund using UK ETFs

May 28, 2009

The endowment funds of Ivy League universities like Yale and Harvard have historically achieved excellent returns, with less volatility than an index tracker fund.

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Why shares could be set for a decade of 20% a year returns

May 27, 2009

Today I read an article from Alan Steel, a fund manager. Here are the key reasons why he thinks the March low means equity investors could see great returns for years.

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Getting older? Admit it when you rebalance your portfolio

May 26, 2009

Whether you rebalance your portfolio once a month, year or decade, there’s something else to keep in mind: You’re not getting any younger! I know this is painful stuff. It’s bad enough remembering your mortality when shopping for jeans or racing your kids around the park. But the fact is our ideal asset allocation may [...]

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We should pay MPs more (but not this lot)

May 24, 2009

A couple of readers have asked me what I think about the MPs’ expenses scandal that’s turned the British Isles into a Banana Republic. My first thought is Banana Republic politics is rather fitting for the UK today, given our dire national finances, unelected leader and last week’s threat to our debt’s AAA status. Beyond [...]

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Weekend reading: 23/5/09

May 23, 2009

Some interesting financial and investing posts I ran across this week, plus a few decent articles from the newspapers.

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Investment clocks and asset allocation

May 21, 2009

Institutional investors always ask what time it is. Not (only) because they have an expensive lunch with a pension manager to go to, but also because there is an investment clock that reflects the business cycle. The pretty clock shown here was created by Merrill Lynch. Merrill went bust last year, so you might think [...]

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Factors that may influence how and when you rebalance

May 19, 2009

When deciding how often to rebalance your portfolio, you’ll need to consider several factors, including: The kinds of assets you hold The cost of trading such assets Tax issues The free time you have available Your personal judgement How often you can be bothered to do it I’m serious about that last point, incidentally.

Abbey 5% savings account helps first-time buyers where government doesn’t

May 18, 2009

First-time buyers under 35 who are saving a cash deposit for a house might want to haul over to Abbey’s website, pronto. The bank has a new product called the Abbey 5% ‘Home Saver’ Account that at a glance looks ideal for any saver who qualifies. It certainly beats the UK government’s approach to helping [...]

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Weekend reading for investors: 16/5/09

May 16, 2009

Every week I read a large number of personal finance and investing articles. Here’s my latest shortcut to the best.

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When should you rebalance your portfolio?

May 15, 2009

Once you’ve committed to rebalancing your portfolio to maintain your chosen asset allocation, you need to decide when you’ll do the deed. As usual, I’m definitely not going to give you a precise plan on how often you should rebalance. I think there’s no perfect answer, and you need to decide for yourself. That said, [...]

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How to rebalance your portfolio

May 14, 2009

I have previously discussed why rebalancing your portfolio is a good idea. In short, by reducing or adding to your holdings in different asset classes, you can smooth your returns and keep risk within a level you can tolerate. How do you actually do it? Well, rebalancing is definitely an art more than a science. [...]

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Does being a great investor mean you’ll live longer?

May 12, 2009

Most of the benefits of investing are obvious. Many would say they amount to zero – or rather all the zeros you hope to see at the end of your bank balance! More thoughtful souls ask what successful investing could translate into, whether it be the sports cars and fancy holidays you imagine as a [...]

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Weekend reading for investors: 9/5/09

May 9, 2009

Every week I read a large number of personal finance and investing articles. Here’s my latest weekly shortcut to the best.

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Rebalancing asset allocations

May 8, 2009

Very few private investors give much thought to asset allocation, even though it’s far more important than picking stocks or funds in determining your investment returns. Even worse, those who do set up a nicely diversified portfolio often forget all about their ideal asset mix once they’ve made their initial decisions! This is foolish, and [...]

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Spooked by my bad debts at Zopa

May 6, 2009

Alas it seems Zopa, the UK peer-to-peer lender, isn’t immune to the downturn – at least not if my recent experience is anything to go by. Readers may recall I was worried that bad debts would rise at Zopa as far back as March 2008. My fear was that consumers starved of finance by the [...]

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Crisis investing: Company blunders

May 5, 2009

This series has previously looked at the general principle of investing during a crisis, as well as how you might react to particular headline news events. But crisis investing is also relevant to particular company stocks.

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