The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 9 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Dunn: Wake Forest trustees voted to hire Bernie Madoff in blind test
“So I gave them this big Wilshire book of 400 pages. It had this strategy, and I said, this is the kind of book that you typically get from a consultant. And it was a manager that was on the board of NASDAQ, and he was doing this and that. Eight billion dollars…”
Dunn: Manager research differences between Mercer and Wilshire provide little differentiated value
“The difference between Mercer and Wilshire's manager research, I don't think it's that, that valuable. Asset allocation, for the most part, everyone uses the same modern portfolio theory.”
Nesbitt: Asset allocation determines returns more than manager selection
“Success there was on the premise that we spend 90% of our time on manager selection, but really it's asset allocation that's going to determine returns.”
Masters: The traditional 60/40 portfolio allocation model is no longer viable
“The ability to connect new product into that ecosystem as the sort of traditional portfolio allocation model is being ripped up and thought about the 60 40 thing isn't going to fly any longer. And what is it going to look like? We're not totally sure yet, but …”
Williams: Mean-variance optimization is a conceptual framework, not a direct tool
“Really surprised that the mean variance optimization framework was applied directly and simply. Like, even from early days, it didn't make sense to me that these concepts, really, the point was to say something about how risk should be perceived, that it's sys…”
Williams: Granular trading risk models are a bad fit for institutional allocators
“Well, that's helpful to someone who's trading A portfolio, say, of a number of stocks and bonds, multi-asset class, we brought those models to institutional investors, but that's not at all the right way to approach the problem. They have different purposes. S…”
Dunn: Investors only control fees and risk, not returns
“You can control two things, fees and risk. You can't control return. So every committee that comes in and says we want an eight percent return is starting with the wrong output. Focus on the inputs.”