Ben Carlson

The Bedrock of Portfolio Management

Investors often spend much of their time thinking tactically instead of psychologically. They want to know how to handle the next week or month in the markets without ever planning for the next year or decade.

Why The Smart Money Chases Performance

The fund I used to work for was invested in an investment manager that performed very well in 2008 when the majority of asset classes and portfolio managers were getting destroyed by the financial crisis and stock market collapse. This particular strategy was up double digits in a year when stocks fell close to 40%. This…

When Investors Call the Shots for Portfolio Managers

UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND, n. A mutual fund, specializing in bonds, that places no limits on the number of ways in which it can provide disappointing results to its investors. – Jason Zweig, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary Investors often get exactly what they’re asking for, even if what they’re asking for will damage their performance.

The Impact of the Fiduciary Standard on the Finance Industry

Here’s a recent headline from Investment News: Now here’s an alternative headline and byline: DOL fiduciary rule could add $2.4 billion to retirees’ pockets Implementing the standard on retirement accounts could help investors lower their costs by more than twice the current estimates, according to new research It’s all about how you look at it. Morningstar estimates…

The Most Important Retirement Fund Right Now

There’s never been a better time to be an individual investor. Fees and commissions continue to drop. There are more options than ever for investment products, strategies and fund structures. And there’s an unbelievable amount of quality research and commentary about saving, investing, retirement and the markets available for free.

Calculated Risks From the Coach Who Never Punts

My brother has been hounding me for while now to look into the high school football coach who never punts. I finally did a deep dive by reading a few articles and watching some videos on Kevin Kelley, the head football coach at Pulaski Academy.

A Painful Year for Contrarian Trades

There’s been something of a bull market in people who consider themselves a contrarian investor in recent years. People took notice of those who called the tech bubble in the late-1990s, the the real estate bubble in the mid-2000s or the bottom of the stock market in early 2009. Everyone would now like to think…

The 2015 Financial Market Awards

With apologies to Steve Harvey, here are my financial market awards for 2015: Best Streak: The S&P 500 is up 7 years in a row.* Sure, it’s only up 3% or so this year, but think about all of the worry and doom and gloom since 2009. The fact that the broad stock market hasn’t had…