The Art of Boring™ was created for curious and passionate investors. We share strategies, frameworks, and insights to help readers and listeners make better investment decisions. Our aim? To provide some bottom-up, long-term investing signal to cut through the short-term noise.

  • An imperfect signal

    Bondholders have been on quite the ride in the last few months. The year began with yields moving lower in many regions—notably Europe—to the surprise of some investors who just last year thought that rates could only go higher.

    June 15, 2015

  • (Not) boring finds for June 2015

    Our team comes across hundreds of weird and wonderful reads in our daily research. Below are the handful that stood out for us this month.

    June 4, 2015


  • Curious George

    It’s hard not to love Curious George.  It’s an unfair contest really—here’s a cute little monkey who, with the best of intentions, constantly gets into trouble as he explores the overly-structured world around him!

    May 20, 2015

  • Quiet heroes

    Too often, we seem to confuse heroism with heroics, significance with pomp and flash.

    May 13, 2015

  • The unfathomable is not impossible

    When we open our minds to a wide set of possibilities—including ideas that initially seem impossible—we make it easier to put the odds in our favour over time.

    May 5, 2015

  • The boy who cried Greece

    Greece has been struggling with some manner of financial crisis for almost five years. The situation has become worse of late due to the fallout from the January 2015 election when the leftist party Syriza rose to power under an anti-austerity mandate.

    April 28, 2015

  • (Not) boring finds for April 2015

    Our team occasionally uncovers signal in the daily parsing of noise. Since such information can be easily passed over, we thought we’d make it a habit to share some links that we’ve liked recently.

    April 23, 2015

  • Rockin’ and rollin’ in China

    The Chinese stock market has been very hot as of late. Many Chinese indices are up dramatically over the last twelve months.

    April 21, 2015

  • Unlocking India’s potential

    This was my first lesson in India. When you arrive in the country, you don’t just land at the airport, India lands on you.

    April 7, 2015

  • A tribute to Lee Kuan Yew

    If a person's legacy is to be measured by his contributions to society, then Lee Kuan Yew ranks among the great heroes.

    March 27, 2015

  • (Not) boring finds for May 2020

    A podcast about decision-making theory, a global fiscal policy tracker, a blog about market assumptions, and an infinite monkey theorem experiment. The ideas springs have sprung.

    May 27, 2020

  • Mawer Market Update—March 20, 2020

    Over the last week, the world has seen a continued increase in COVID-19 cases and, consequently, a greater effort to contain the virus. 

    March 20, 2020

  • Market Update – March 13, 2020

    Throughout the week, governments around the world have continued to take more significant measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

    March 13, 2020

  • Market Update – March 10, 2020

    Considering the significant market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the plunge in oil prices reflecting Saudi Arabia’s decision to accelerate output, we wanted to provide you with an update on Mawer’s strategy in this challenging environment.

    March 10, 2020

  • (Not) boring finds for February 2020

    Why, in investing, it is better to ‘avoid the zeros’; what 700 years of falling interest rates looks like; how mathematics can be a study in wonder (i.e., fun); and the way spices spurred on empires.

    February 26, 2020


  • (Not) boring finds for January 2020

    We close the first month of 2020 by considering the WEF’s list of the top global economic risks (sorted by likelihood and potential extent of impact), Howard Mark’s framework for assessing investment decisions (game theory makes an appearance), what Houdini has to do with risk, and really, what the rise of 5G means for tech.

    January 29, 2020

  • (Not) boring finds for 2019

    As the end of the year (and decade!) is nigh, we thought we’d join the year-in-review fervour, and curate a list of our Top 10 favourite links from 2019.

    December 30, 2019


  • (Not) boring finds for November 2019

    This month, we learned how the 7 most common plots in storytelling can help investors; why analyzing historical returns usually needs more context; the case for “narrative economics”; and a look at the first map of America’s food supply chain. 

    November 27, 2019

  • Investing: The infinite game

    Investing is a fitting example of an infinite game. Why is it that some players last longer in this game than others?

    November 13, 2019

  • (Not) boring finds for October 2019

    This month’s finds include a think-piece on the rise of negative interest rates; a spotlight on Shopify’s origins; what WeWork demonstrates about private vs. public markets for tech stocks; and a look into how humanity’s obsession with gambling has influenced mathematics.

    October 30, 2019