This week in Fodder, we feature Professor Moshe Milevsky's top-rated presentation from our recent Strategies Conference, in which he explains why our biological age (as measured by wearable technologies) is more relevant to retirement planning than our chronological (i.e. birthday) age. Tim Farrelly highlights two areas where practitioners have a clear advantage over the best fund managers. Dom McCormick analyses the pro's and con's of participating in Magellan's upcoming "monster" closed end listed investment trust IPO. Harvard's Prof Carmen Reinhart warns that while the dollar's status as the world's major reserve currency makes it easy for the US to keep running its 25-year long current-account deficit, it doesn't make it a good idea. And the economics team from Payden & Rygel have created a whiteboard animation to explain why investors can stop worrying about the impact on long-term interest rates of the Fed shrinking its balance sheet.
- All the best for another great week's continuing education - Graham
P.S. We've begun publishing the presentations, papers and podcasts from last week's Strategies Conference - they're available to all members to "attend" and earn CE hours.
P.P.S. It's 15 years this Sunday since we launched Portfolio Construction Forum - and so we'll be progressively rolling out a new "grown up" look, starting with our new logo (above). Thanks for being part of our first 15 years!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK...

A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers - Helen Keller

LATEST...

Strategies
Retirement spending and biological age
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that chronological (C) age is dominated by biological (B) age as a better proxy for longevity risk. Practitioners must consider both ages when building portfolios and structuring retirement spending strategies.
Moshe Milevsky, York University | More

Strategies | Investing
Beating the world’s best investors
Where can practitioners take on the world’s best investors and win? Actually, in quite a lot of places.
Tim Farrelly, farrelly's | More

Investing
Magellan's "monster" listed trust - masterstroke or misfire?
Magellan is innovating again, this time raising money for what's been called a "monster" closed-end listed investment trust (LIT) with features that dramatically raise the bar for the standard model of closed end listed investment vehicles.
Dominic McCormick | More

Markets
The persistence of global imbalances
The US has run chronic current-account deficits for almost two generations. Pointing the finger at surplus countries is getting old.
Carmen M. Reinhart, Harvard University | More

Markets
Fed balance sheet fears are much ado about nothing
Investors should set aside their fears about the Fed shrinking its balance sheet, and remember that it provides little indication about what will happen to longer term interest rates.
Payden & Rygel | More

China's economic resilience
...China's growth may carry on for years yet, but feeding the beast on credit must surely be a recipe for reducing resilience, not increasing it.
James Weir, Steward Wealth | More

RECENTLY...

Markets
Rampant confusion - monetary policy, yield curve, bond yields
The growing belief that the US has entered an era of permanently low economic growth, due in large part to an alleged reduction in productivity growth, is wrong.
Dr Woody Brock, SED | More

Markets
A dim outlook for Trumponomics
After six months, we can more confidently assess the prospects for the US economy under Trump's administration. Like his presidency, paradoxes abound.
Nouriel Roubini, Roubini Global Economic | More

Strategies
Choosing discount rates for retirement planning strategies
While the use of a discount rate to compare strategies or choices that are dispersed or occur over time is useful, the proper discount rate is the investor's expected rate of return, means that the "right" discount rate will vary from one person to the next.
Michael Kitces, Nerd's Eye View | More

Investing
The four stages of investment analysis
Using a Stage 4 investment analysis framework is a strong move towards a deeper understanding of portfolio risk drivers, and ensuring portfolios better reflect your investment philosophy.
Michael Furey, Delta Research & Advisory | More

Investing
Active v passive – why can’t we be friends?
When it comes to the active versus passive investment debate, many investors believe the answer is black or white. But the issue is deeper than that.
Mugunthan Siva, India Avenue Investment Management | More

Is ASIC providing advice?
Interesting that Greg Medcraft has expressed an opinion about a specific class of financial product... under what licence has he provided this advice?
Michael Chamberlain, MCA NZ | More

Investors' basic needs?
... If you are looking for certainty, investment markets are probably not the place to look...
David Redford-Bell, QIC | More

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