Archives

A new attribution approach, a foreboding forecast, and an unusual market analogy. Plus readings on taking a long view, diverse managers, company managers, short-selling and ESG, crypto hedge funds, down rounds in VC land, and more.

The 13F disclosure rules have spawned infrastructure in the ecosystem and quarterly accounts about manager moves. Some quick takes on the rules, copycatting, and research on performance.

There is no way to “get it all” when doing due diligence. There will always be gaps in information. It is important to acknowledge them, and to avoid passing the narrative of others along as your own point of view.

Two articles from more than twenty years ago offer tactics for those doing due diligence that are just as important as they were then (and yet are still somewhat rare).

In addition to the title topics, there’s a look at a former high-flyer, plus readings on growth traps, value investing, bond trading, diversity, DDQs, investor relations, PE headhunters, ditching the audit messes, and “bull market rhymes.”

Certainty and uncertainty, access and analysis, the impact of a large class of investors, and investments in RIAs are topics in these additional readings about private equity.

Despite the popularity of private equity, beliefs about its performance attributes vary dramatically, while the investment characteristics of the holdings are much different than in the past. That calls for a reassessment.

In the first ever “Four for Friday” posting: “Great quarter, guys,” robot analysts, non-deal roadshows, and the mix of “investing” and “the game” in sell-side roles.

Every two weeks, there’s a quote, a chart, some postings to catch up on, and a bunch of interesting readings that you might not have seen. It’s the Fortnightly!

An examination of Pimco prompts a series of questions that get at important due diligence and manager selection considerations.

The times, tools, and tactics that allowed Pimco to thrive are examined in the second posting about the firm and its leader, Bill Gross.

This first of three postings about Bill Gross and Pimco looks at the organizational dynamics of one of the most successful firms of the last four decades — and the deposition of Gross as the Bond King.

A profound change has taken place in many portfolios that are supposed to produce alpha, from a focus on finding the best individual holdings to an environment in which many are “agnostic to security-level information.”

The second part of a series about the 1990s and 2000s in the investment business covers a couple of personal accounts of analysts from the times.

A new market environment has forced the reconsideration of some previously-held beliefs. A bit about that, but also the normal cornucopia of readings found in each edition of the Fortnightly.