Weekend Reading – Bubble Watch, Non-US Small Caps & Portable Alpha
Weekend Reading is a collection of Investment Research and Lifestyle topics from all corners of the Web. We source the highest quality insights from Wall Street and Main Street that you may apply to your investment process. Unlike the rest of Bankeronwheels.com, this series is provided without additional guidance. As usual, everything is to be used at your own risk. Below is the type of content we shortlist:
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all
Featured
Investing Mistakes Add Years To Your Working Life & 7 Other Investing Lessons From Cycling The World (Banker on Wheels)
One of the biggest misconceptions and most frequent question that people ask adventure cyclists is whether they’re lonely. These adventures are some of the most exciting and enriching human experiences you can have. However, when on your bike, you inevitably end up alone. With your mind, music or audiobooks. Some cycling experiences profoundly changed me, but also my way of looking at investing. You may think that spending 15 years on Wall Street would teach me more about successful investing than cycling. Surprisingly, Wise Money is more about perspective than technicals. Here are 8 Investing lessons I learned from Cycling the World.
Portfolio Construction
Asset Allocation
The US stock market has never been more concentrated. Does it matter? (FT)
Bond market liquidity was so 2010s. Nowadays, stock market concentration is the new trendy bugbear of finance. Worries are understandable. After all, it’s hard not to feel at least a little bit uneasy about the phenomenon, which is remarkable across three dimensions: size (big is better than small); industry (tech über alles) and geography (America First). There are a multitude of ways to show these interlocking facets of concentration.
- Major Asset Class Returns in 2024 (Visual Capitalist)
- 2035: An Allocator Looks Back Over the Last 10 Years (AQR)
- Portable Alpha: lessons from past implementations of the concept (Aspect Capital)
- Global Diversification is Still Working (Discpline Funds)
- The Best Strategies for FX Hedging (Italian Leather Sofa)
Understand Financial Markets
On Bubble Watch (Oaktree Capital)
Exactly 25 years ago today, I published the first memo that brought a response from readers. The memo was called bubble.com, and the subject was the irrational behavior I thought was taking place with respect to tech, internet, and e-commerce stocks. The memo had two things going for it: it was right, and it was right fast. One of the first great investment adages I learned in the early 1970s is that “being too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong.” In this case, however, I wasn’t too far ahead.
How To Invest
In this episode, I’m joined by Larry Swedroe, a thought leader in evidence-based investing and former Chief Research Officer at Buckingham Strategic Wealth. Larry has authored over 18 books that have shaped the way people think about personal finance, and now, after 28 years in the industry, he’s sharing the most valuable lessons he’s learned in retirement planning and investing
Active Investing
Factor Investing
Non-U.S. Small Caps: Fama-French SMB Factor Performance (Acadian)
We extend our research on the performance of small-cap stocks in the United States to other developed markets (DM) and we conclude that investors should stay invested and active in non-U.S. small caps. This relatively inefficient market segment offers alpha generation opportunities that merit an overweight relative to the cap-weighted market portfolio.
- Investigating Simple Formulaic Investing (Alpha Architect)
- Redefining Value Investing in a Magnificent Seven Dominated World (Excess Returns)
- Capitalization-Weighted Indexes, RAFI, “Smart Beta,” and Factors (JPM Series) (Research Affiliates)
- Peter Mladina: Factor Betas and ICAPM in Practice (Excess Returns)
- Small caps may have reached an inflection point (Capital Group)
Discretionary Investing
- US Sector Earnings & Sales Growth (Wei Li, BlackRock)
- Dividends are a feature, nothing more (Downtown Josh Brown)
- European stocks offer earnings stability in surprising places (Reuters)
- The Accuracy and Importance of Growth Guidance (Verdad)
- the Top Performing S&P 500 Sectors in 2024 (Visual Capitalist)
Alternative Asset Classes
Comprehensive Guide To Alternative Credit (CFA Institute)
Private markets have grown in the past decade to become an ever-larger part of investor portfolios. Alternative credit in particular gained prominence after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), when bank lending became increasingly constrained by stricter regulation. Before the GFC, it only served a niche market. After the crisis, it became more widespread and increasingly covered more of the space left empty by retrenching financial institutions.
- Long Volatility Investment Strategies Primer (Meketa Investments)
- US Distressed Credit: Market Strength to Boost Defaults, Opportunity Set? (Morningstar)
- Hedge Funds: Bad year? Increase risk. Good year? Do the same. (Joachim Klement)
- Unlocking the Roaring 2020s: Is Bitcoin the New Gold? (Top Traders Unplugged)
Wall Street
Bad Bets
ETFs
UCITS ETFs
A short guide to Index Selection (UBS)
The indexing industry has changed and evolved significantly since the first indexed equity portfolio was launched in 1971. More than USD 24 trillion is now invested on a passive basis globally – tracking a wide range of benchmarks across different asset classes in a variety of investment vehicles. Over the past two decades index investing has crystallized into a sophisticated quasi-science/quasi-art investment style that requires high levels of skill, pragmatism and market knowledge.
US ETFs
Wealth Management
Personal Finance
(Early) Retirement
- Meet the millionaires living the ‘underconsumption’ life: They drive secondhand cars, batch cook and never buy new clothes (Yahoo Finance)
- This couple retired in their 30s in 1991 and have no regrets: ‘It just keeps getting better’ (CNBC)
- What No One Tells You About Purpose and Happiness in Retirement (Two Sides of FI)
- 2025 Goals And Resolutions: Back To A Simple Retirement Life (Financial Samurai)
Financial Advice
Design Your Lifestyle
Personal Development
You’re Focused on the Wrong Thing (Khe Hy - RadReads)
Is searching for your life's purpose causing more anxiety than fulfillment? Jordan Grumet discovered that chasing "Big P" purpose – those audacious, society-approved goals – often leads to burnout and emptiness. Instead, he advocates "Little P" purpose: the small, joy-filled activities that light us up, which paradoxically can create deeper impact and meaning than big hairy audacious goals ever could.
- How To Become An Indistractable Force (Infinite Loop)
- when we stop creating, we die. (Jared Dilllian)
- How To Embrace Imperfection (Pushkin)
- The Random Show — 2025 Predictions (AI, Aliens, BTC, and More), New Year’s Resolutions and Strategies, Smart Fitness, The Spinal Engine and much more (The Tim Ferris Show)
Careers & Entrepreneurship
Travel
Finding Connection at Sisters in the Wild Scotland (Bikepacking.com)
In September, Sisters in the Wild and Annie Le led a four-day bikepacking trip through the Scottish Highlands, fueled by perfect weather, lots of laughs, spectacular wild camps, and a bit of bog trotting.
Autumn is my favorite season for riding in the Highlands—interesting mushrooms popping up everywhere, berries to add to morning porridge, and the last of the summer flowers still hanging on and adding delicate colors to the landscape.
Tech & Economy
Economy
- Navigating Troubled Waters: What the Surge in Bankruptcy Filings Means for the Economy (CFA Institute)
- Why Does The US Import Oil When They Produce So Much? (Economics Explained)
- Javier Milei One Year In! (Patrick Boyle)
- Five possible reasons China's productivity slowed down (Noahpinion)
- Lebanon’s Economy Reels From War: ‘We Are Starting From Zero’ (New York Times)
- The Patchwork of Eurozone Pension Systems and Budget Constraints (Amundi)
Tech & Science
And Finally
Good Luck and Keep’em* Rolling!
(* Wheels & Dividends)
Trade Wars, Real Wars, but Equities Close To All-Time Highs: Is It A Good Time To Invest?
7 Reasons Why Japan May Be Your Next Cycling Adventure
Nomads in 2026: Genki vs SafetyWing – Which Travel Insurance Wins?
How You Can Cycle The World – A Practical Guide
Weekend Reading – Vanguard Cuts Fees across 15 ETFs & IBKR launches prediction markets
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