Smart(er) Investing: How Academic Insights Propel the Savvy Investor

by Elisabetta Basilico, Tommi Johnsen

Overview

This book identifies and discusses the most successful investing practices with an emphasis on the academic articles that produced them and why this research led to popular adoption and growth in $AUM.

Investors are bombarded with ideas and prescriptions for successful investing every day. Given the steady stream of information on stock tips, sector timing, asset allocation, etc., how do investors decide?  How do they judge the quality and reliability of the investment advice they are given on a day-to-day basis?

This book identifies which academic articles turned investment ideas were the most innovative and influential in the practice of investment management. Each article is discussed in terms of the asset management process: strategy, portfolio construction, portfolio implementation, and risk management. Some examples of topics covered are factor investing, the extreme growth of trading instruments like Exchange Traded Funds, multi-asset investing,socially responsible investing, big data, and artificial intelligence.

This book analyzes a curated selection of peer-reviewed academic articles identified among those published by the scientific investment community.  The book briefly describes each of the articles,  how and why each one changed the way we think about investing in that specific asset class, and provides insights as to the nuts and bolts of how to take full advantage of this successful investment idea. It is as timely as it is informative and will help each investor to focus on the most successful strategies, ideas, and implementation that provide the basis for the efficient accumulation and management of wealth. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030266929
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	12/11/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Elisabetta Basilico is the co-editor of academicinsightsoninvesting.com and has 15 years of experience in international financial settings spanning from academia to institutions (pension funds, foundations, and family offices). Her core skills include turning academic insights into quantitative investment models and ideas with specific expertise in global wealth management, asset allocation, liquid investments, stock picking signals, fund picking, and general statistical analysis. She is a holder of the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) designation since 2007 and obtained a PhD from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. She has taught and conducted quantitative research at various universities and is a co-author of various articles published in peer-reviewed journals.

Tommi Johnsen is currently the co-editor of academicinsightsoninvesting.com, is the former Director of the Reiman School of Finance, and an emeritus professor at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She has worked extensively as a research consultant and investment advisor for institutional investors in the areas of quantitative methods and portfolio construction. She taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels and published research in several areas including: capital markets, portfolio management and performance analysis, financial applications of econometrics, and the analysis of equity securities. These publications have appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals. She received her PhD from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a major field of study in Investments and a minor in Econometrics. 

Table of Contents

1. What Constitutes Good Investment Research?.- 2. A Roadmap to Reading an Academic Article.- 3. Index Investing: It Makes Active Management Better.- 4. Factor Investing: Challenging the Market Index with Smart Beta Products.- 5. Multi-Asset Investing: Challenging the Industry Obsession with Alpha.- 6. Tail Risk Hedging: It is an Asset Allocation Decision.- 7. Responsible Investing: Deep Roots in the Values of Western Society.- 8. Equity and Rewards-Based Crowdfunding: A Potential Disrupter.- 9. Big Data and Artificial Intelligence: A Revolution in Investment Management.- 10. Cryptocurrencies:  A Fledgling Asset Class, but It’s Too Early to Tell.- 11. Women in Finance: What Does the Research Show?.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“It’s like getting a PhD on speed.” (Perth Tolle, Founder Life+Liberty Indexes)

“Simply marvelous & badly needed. Wonderfully accessible guide to both evaluating academic #investment research & to best ideas emerging from academia. Must-read.” (Matt Bergman, Principal, Ridge Strategic and Senior Counsel, The Marino Organization)

Editorial Reviews

In Smart(er) Investing: How Academic Insights Propel the Savvy Investor, University of Denver professors Elisabetta Basilico … and Tommi Johnsen, PhD, (retired) provide a field guide to identifying quality research that enables those outside the ivory tower to incorporate proven ideas into the practice of investment management. … Smart(er) Investing will improve readers’ critical thinking about research and equip them to employ only the best academic insights in their work in the financial markets.” (J. Christopher Hughen, Enterprising Investor, July 10, 2020)

“This is an excellent and worthwhile read. … The work in this book is important as investment management becomes yet another victim of information overload. There is simply too much material for any mere mortal to go through and valuable information can become lost in the shuffle, while misinformation can spread. Accurate summaries from trustworthy sources are a much needed response to the expanse of data, and you can find that conveniently in ‘Smart(er) Investing.’” (Zachary Simon, JOIM, Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 18 (2), 2020)

“A new book dives into this research (while being immensely readable): ‘Smart(er) Investing: How Academic Insights Propel the Savvy Investor,’ by Elisabetta Basilico of Applied Quantitative Analysis and Tommi Johnsen of the University of Denver’s Reiman School of Finance … . The book compiles investment ideas tied to recent studies … in which the authors use a myriad of studies to reveal the differences between men and women in finance, where women excel in this field, and how firms can correct issues of imbalance.” (Ginger Szala, ThinkAdvisor, January 29, 2020)

From the Publisher