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Institutional Investment Strategy and Manager Choice: A Critique

Institutional Investment Strategy and Manager Choice: A Critique
May 18, 2020 by Richard M. Ennis
In a recent Journal of Portfolio Management article I looked critically at institutional investing in the U.S. I found:
  • Large public pension funds underperformed passive investment by 1.0% per year in the decade ended June 30, 2018. The underperformance of large educational endowments was of 1.6% per year.
  • The margins of underperformance closely approximate the respective (independently derived) cost of investment for the two fund types.
  • Alternative investments ceased to be the diversifiers they once were and became a significant drag on institutional fund performance.
  • Public pension funds are high-cost closet-indexers. The vast majority will inevitably underperform in the years ahead

Signature EnnisKnupp Advisory Themes

Sep 10, 2019 by Richard M. Ennis
Advisory themes played a vital role in the work of EnnisKnupp. We wanted all the clients to get the firm’s best thinking. As a means to that end we set out the firm’s position in various areas so that clients got the same advice, circumstances warranting. There were never more than 10 or so positions, or themes, most of which derived from our research and writing. We tried to put them down on paper from time to time, but that proved superfluous. The positions were forged in our internal discussions and day-to-day work. We knew them like we knew our own names. Here is a brief description of some of the most enduring EnnisKnupp advisory themes.

How to Sell Services

Jul 11, 2019 by Richard M. Ennis
In Never Bullshit the Client, I write about selling services, which is different from selling products. While I don’t claim to be an expert on selling services, I did learn a few things during my 40 years at it. This post explores what I have learned.

Big Bond Bust

Jul 08, 2019 by Richard M. Ennis
The following article was originally published in Financial Analysts Journal, Sep/Oct 2009, Vol. 65, No. 3: 6-8.

The Uncorrelated Return Myth

Jul 04, 2019 by Richard M. Ennis

The following article was originally published in Financial Analysts Journal, May/June 2009, Vol. 65, No. 3:6-10a.

Darwin and Investment Product Proliferation

Jul 01, 2019 by Richard M. Ennis
The following is adapted from the essay, “The Structure of the Investment Management Industry,” appearing in Financial Analysts Journal, July/August 1997, Vol. 53, No. 4:6-13.