I strive to be smart, wise, analytical, creative, intuitive, and informative. I hope to help make you a better active investment management pro.
I recommend you start with the Best of the Blog.
25 October 2016: Nature’s Risks and Returns panelist
Jason Apollo Voss, CFA serves as a panelist at the event Nature’s Risks and Returns. His panel is entitled, “Systemic resilience – Adjusting forecasting practices to shifting contexts”
read more29 September 2016: EuroMoney – The collective struggle for better bank ethics
Jason Apollo Voss, CFA is interviewed for an important piece on bank ethics in EuroMoney, entitled, “The collective struggle for better bank ethics.”
read moreIs Active Management Dead? Not Even Close
Several years ago, I interviewed C. Thomas Howard of AthenaInvest to learn more about his firm’s unique implementation of behavioral finance. This turned out to be one of the best performing pieces of content Enterprising Investor has ever run. But it isn’t just AthenaInvest’s originality that’s so compelling, so too is its strong performance. Howard also has an interesting pedigree as a recovering and almost lifelong finance professor turned practitioner. Recently he has focused his attention on another problem: determining...
read moreAlpha Wounds: Lack of Independent Judgment
My entire series on Alpha Wounds is intended to provide solutions that can be implemented by anyone in the investment community to improve the returns of active investment managers for the benefit of clients. This month I focus on the lack of independent judgment and due diligence among active managers. Unfortunately, I need to rely on my own personal experience and anecdotes rather than comprehensive data to make my point. Why? The image and, therefore, expectation of active managers is that they are Sherlock Holmes-style detectives...
read more26 May 2016: Fintech O-2-O – Digital Disruption in Asset Management
Jason Apollo Voss, CFA delivers the keynote address at Nexchange’s event: Fintech O-2-O: Digital Disruption in Asset Management in New York City 26 May 2016.
read moreDefensive Anti-Takeover Board Measures
In the heart of the 1980s, so-called “corporate raiders” making their hostile takeover bids for publicly traded firms struck fear into the hearts of management and boards of directors. This was the era of Barbarians at the Gate and The Art of the Deal. In response to the wave of unwanted corporate suitors, boards throughout the United States began adopting anti-takeover provisions carefully crafted by crafty lawyers. Eventually similar plans were embraced by boards at companies across the globe. Firms in the 1980s argued convincingly that...
read moreAlpha Wounds: Culture vs. Philosophy Mismatch
My entire series on Alpha Wounds is intended to provide solutions that can be implemented by anyone in the investment community to improve the returns of active investment managers for the benefit of clients. This month’s post focuses on choices over which the investment adviser has nearly full control. Specifically, I am talking about matching the culture of an investment management firm with its underlying investment philosophy. When culture runs counter to philosophy, even excellent fund managers are not allowed to fully execute their...
read moreMeditation for Investment Professionals
There has been an explosion of interest in meditation among the business community over the past several years. What most in the finance industry do not realize, however, is that meditation provides unique benefits that directly address many of the obstacles we all face each day. More on that in a moment. But first, just who in finance and business pursues the practice? Who in Investing Meditates? Several well-known investors are public advocates of their practice of meditation. These include Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Paul Tudor...
read more22 February 2016: Marketplace Morning Report Radio Interview About Fractional Reserve Banking
Listen to Jason Apollo Voss’ radio interview with Marketplace Morning Report’s David Brancaccio discussing fractional reserve banking.
read moreAlpha Wounds: Short-Termism
I apologize for the intervening gap between my last Alpha Wounds post about the active quality of passive investment management and this one. Given the length of the wait, let me dive straight into the discussion. This month I want to highlight the advancement of short-termism into the investment management business and its deleterious effects on alpha. Why Short-Termism Is Detrimental Higher Trading Costs Short-termism results in untoward trading costs (i.e., higher expense ratios). Hopefully this does not warrant a statistical analysis....
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