BMC Insights Blog

The CFA Institute dedicates an entire session to what drives investors behaviors.  There are three themes to this topic and I’m going to highlight the first theme they focus on in this post:  Heuristic-driven bias.

Below is a link to a Morningstar article discussing Jack Bogle (founder of Vanguard) and his perspective on investing.  There are some very good points that I have also put forward when selecting funds for clients portfolios, they inlcude:

Always nice to see one your key holdings in your portfolio distinguished as one of the best managers for any given year.  That was the case for the American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund, a staple in most of my portfolios.

This article makes a great point in Bernanke’s support of low interest rates, while Greenspan was Fed Chair.

What I like about this chart, is that it shows the National GDP of the country the year that construction was completed, and the previous 5 years before the project was completed.  It shows how usually “unthinkable” development projects are made during periods of economic expansion and how these accomplishments often peak at the same time as the relative economy peaks. 

Warren Buffett is one of the most highly regarded investors… he’s consistent, he’s focused on fundamentals, and he’s focused on long-term returns.  However, even Buffett’s investments are subject to significant decline, especially in the short-term. 

I received the following Member e-mail from the CFA Institute.  It discusses the state of the current financial reform regulations being pushed through Congress and stresses the areas that need further attention.

This is a great article from the Economist.  It really highlights why the recent recovery is facing significant dangers ahead.  The shift from government funded recovery to privately managed recovery is a process that will be extremely difficult to manage.

I think this is a very timely article regarding gold prices and investment returns over the last several decades:

It will be interesting to see if other banks follow suit.   The pay czar’s restrictions on compensation, seems to be the biggest motivator for BofA to find ways to exit its TARP obligations, seeing as it has been unsuccessful at find a new CEO to lead the bank, under the current restrictions.