It looks like Rydex' Sing dollar, Russian ruble and South African rand ETFs will be listing in the next couple of weeks. I am most interested in the Sing dollar. Pairing a low yielding, surplus currency like SGD with a higher yielding commodity currency could make for some good diversification.
Other currencies I'd like to see made into ETFs include the Kazakhstan tenge, Chilean peso and the Norwegian krone.
IndexUniverse reported that ELEMENTS ETNs launched three funds "based on the investment philosophy of Benjamin Graham." There is a large cap fund BVL, a small cap fund BSC (really BSC? so soon? wow) and a total market fund BVT. IndexUniverse said they launched on Thursday but that is not clear by looking at Yahoo Finance. Additionally the ELEMENTS website had no mention of them yet.
FWIW I am not a big fan of the equity strategy ETFs/ETNs. I think the draw for exchange traded products is that they are static (save for rebalances) which allows investors to determine their various exposures.
Old friend Telecom New Zealand took a big hit in the local market overnight as earnings dropped 15% due to competition issues and they are likely to go keep heading lower for a while. For anyone new, I sold the stock a long time ago, it was a fine hold (not great) and I have kept tabs on it in case I ever want to go back in but have not pulled the trigger.
Yesterday financial stocks got clocked on more bad news from several stocks. I have been writing about this sector a fair bit lately. I have been saying I think it makes sense to think about the end of the crisis but that it is too early to move to equal weight or overweight (as a matter of philosophy I don't believe in zero weight). People much smarter than us have been very wrong about this sector. The crisis will end at some point and increasing exposure will make sense at some point but we should expect more bad news and there is no need to be early with this.
Yesterday the WSJ had an article about the Harvard Endowment Fund. Apparently for the 12 months ended June 30 the fund was up 7-9% while the S&P 500 was down 14.8% plus (or should that be less?) dividends. The annual report is not on the HMC site yet but it always makes for a good read.
I feel as though I have been heavily influenced by what HMC and some of the other endowments do in terms of seeking out disparate asset classes to create diversification. A big theme on this site has been that portfolio construction evolves and the endowments seem to be out in front of that concept, point being we should listen when they speak.
The strategies they employ are becoming more easily accessed, not that they are right for everyone and certainly this is not an easier path but people that have the time and interest have a good shot at a better risk adjusted result.
I have been doing a fair bit of writing for greenfaucet, mostly about international investing, I hope you will check it out. I post there every weekday.
Is anyone pumped for the Olympics? The opening ceremony is tonight. I'm not feeling it yet but I'm sure I'll get into it but I really dislike the gymnastics and they spend too much time on the human interest stuff for my tastes.
Lastly the issue that the blog might have been having due to a compatibility between IE 7 and Sitemeter should be resolved. Sitemeter support told me via email to move their little bit of code to a different part of the template which I did and they let me know that the issue was solved. If it is not please let me know.
Wikinvest Wire
5 comments:
Glad you're back, Roger. I'm liking greenfaucet and could also catch you occasionally at thestreet.
Looking forward to Yale's results. Harvard seems driven by some outsized allocations that I'd personally be uncomfortable with, but what they're doing directionally is instructional.
Thanks.
thanks.
yeah I agree. we can learn from what they do and why they do it but we can't copy them because we don't have access to their timing on anything.
The issue I have always had with the Harvards and Yales of the world is two fold:
1. They are able to cut much better deals and in the PE and VC including fee sharing etc. Also, the valuations on the illiquid assets are always a concern.
2. The managers for Harvard and Yale are extremely bright forward thinking investors. What about the people at Tufts that use almost exclusively hedge funds? What about Bowdin that has a majority in hedgies as well? Are these people as bright or do they just bump along like most pensions and endowments, pretending to have a clue? Maybe I'm just grouchy today. Have a great weekend Roger, thanks for the food for foder...i mean thought.
All,
I would very much appreciate any feedback and/or referrals for those familiar with Roger as a portfolio manager. Currently, I am contemplating going with his firm however would like to talk to any third parties prior to engagement in order to complete more due diligence. Thanks
Further to anon 8:21, I wonder how the change in leadership at Harvard will affect their strategy and returns.
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