By: CFA Institute Contributor

These are articles written by professionals for investment professionals. They are contributions from external subject matter experts who do not work for CFA Institute, but may be a CFA charterholder as well as a member of a CFA Society. All are experts in their field and strive to deliver useful insights that help investment professionals make better decisions.

All 123 Articles

Is technology a new asset class?

February 23, 2021

With Covid-19 accelerating digitalisation, the question facing many companies is no longer whether technology is important, but just how important? What percentage of their time should a bank or retailer’s top executives spend thinking about technology? How much investment should a company make in tech? What weighting should institutional and retail investors give the sector? [...]
Maybe analyst recommendations DO add value

February 16, 2021

This is something all investors know for a fact: following analyst buy or sell recommendations isn’t going to lead to outperformance in the long run. Or is it? A new study may cast some doubt on the conventional wisdom. In “Analyst Recommendations and Anomalies Across the Globe,” Vitor Azevedo and Sebastian Müller, CFA, examine 3.8 million analyst forecasts in [...]
Living in a Digital World: three ways to connect with clients

February 9, 2021

Where do financial advisers add value for investors? Relationships — including trust and personal connection — account for 72% of financial advisers’ perceived value, according to a recent Vanguard investor survey. The remaining 28%, investors attribute to the actual services advisers provide, such as creating financial plans and maximizing investment returns. This research emphasizes what [...]
The truthiness of ESG criticism

February 2, 2021

There are two often-repeated critiques of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing that I really can’t stand. They have the quality of truthiness about them and are what academics sometimes call “as if” arguments. For my younger readers, the term truthiness is defined by Wikipedia as follows: “Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement [...]
Covid’s catapult: four positive trends for women

January 26, 2021

Women have been making progress for years, but at a glacial pace. Year after year, I see the same bleak numbers: the more or less stagnant percentages of women in senior management, on boards, in finance, in tech, in investing. However, Covid-19 has been a catalyst and change accelerator in many areas, and while its burdens [...]
Tesla and the S&P 500: what could have been?

January 12, 2021

Tesla has finally joined the S&P 500 Index on 21 December 2020. Back in September, Standard & Poor’s announced that the index’s inclusion committee had decided not to add Tesla to the S&P 500. This unexpected news sent Tesla shares tumbling more than 16% in one day. Given Tesla’s sheer size — it is now among the [...]
Artificial intelligence: people – not robots – are in the driving seat

December 15, 2020

Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is already part of our daily lives. From smartphones to Alexa virtual assistants, AI and its applications are accepted norms today.While we appreciate that AI can automate repetitive workplace tasks or even drive a car, its implications are much further reaching. Luminaries including Elon Musk and Bill Gates [...]
Green bonds: ESG, sustainable or impact investments?

December 11, 2020

In this article, we provide an updated estimate for the green bond premium (“greenium”) in the Euro (EUR) market. We validate the common hypothesis that green bonds tend to trade a tighter spread (lower yield) than comparable “brown” bonds, and we offer some conclusions on green bond investors. The first green bond was issued in [...]
Gender lens funds are growing – but female progress remains challenging

November 24, 2020

The third quarter of 2020 was an eventful one for gender lens investing – investing for financial return while also considering the benefits to women – as well as for women in leadership (WIL). Gender lens equity funds globally turned in modest positive returns, a trajectory in line with the broader market. This suite of [...]
ESG and fixed-income indices surge in 2020

November 17, 2020

“Market indices have seen constant evolution in more than a century of history, but never more so than in the last year.” On 3 July 1884, the world’s first stock index, the Dow Jones Transportation Index, was published by Charles Dow. And every year since then, market indices have evolved and grown in scale and [...]

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By: CFA Institute Contributor

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