The forces. Not the headlines.
Analysis and commentary on markets, companies, and the forces that move them.
How Index Providers Move Billions
Index providers do not manage money, and their decisions nonetheless direct hundreds of billions of dollars. That influence comes from the growth of passive investing, and its workings have several details worth understanding.
The Liquidity Reality of Frontier Markets
Frontier markets have a presence in indices and reporting that far exceeds their actual investability. The core of that gap is liquidity, and understanding the reality of liquidity matters more than assessing these markets' growth stories.
Comparing Transaction Costs Across Markets
Trading in different countries' markets can carry costs that differ by an order of magnitude, and most of these costs do not appear in the quoted price. Their cumulative effect on long-run returns frequently exceeds what investors expect.
Differences in Disclosure Quality Across Markets
The information companies disclose differs greatly across countries in quality, frequency and reliability. That difference directly affects the basis for investment judgement, and it is frequently underestimated.
What Global Diversification Actually Reduces
Global diversification is widely recommended, and which risk it actually reduces, and which it cannot, is frequently glossed over. Understanding that distinction precisely is the precondition for using diversification correctly.
Home Bias: Why Most Investors Underweight Most of the World
Investors everywhere hold overwhelmingly domestic stocks — often 80–90%+ — even when their home market is a sliver of global value. Why home bias happens, and what global exposure does and doesn't do.