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.
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.
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.
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.
Constantly switching lanes while driving rarely gets you to your destination faster and it significantly increases your risk of accidents and fines. So why do it?
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!
Too often, we seem to confuse heroism with heroics, significance with pomp and flash.
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.
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.
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.
The Chinese stock market has been very hot as of late. Many Chinese indices are up dramatically over the last twelve months.
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.
If a person's legacy is to be measured by his contributions to society, then Lee Kuan Yew ranks among the great heroes.
The Oilers allowed Gretzky to play to his strengths. In the language of our firm, they allowed him to focus on his “Area of Genius.”
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.
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.
Constantly switching lanes while driving rarely gets you to your destination faster and it significantly increases your risk of accidents and fines. So why do it?
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!
Too often, we seem to confuse heroism with heroics, significance with pomp and flash.
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.
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.
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.
The Chinese stock market has been very hot as of late. Many Chinese indices are up dramatically over the last twelve months.
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.
If a person's legacy is to be measured by his contributions to society, then Lee Kuan Yew ranks among the great heroes.
The Oilers allowed Gretzky to play to his strengths. In the language of our firm, they allowed him to focus on his “Area of Genius.”
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.
Over the last week, the world has seen a continued increase in COVID-19 cases and, consequently, a greater effort to contain the virus.
Throughout the week, governments around the world have continued to take more significant measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
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.
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.
One of our enduring beliefs is that investors serially underappreciate the long-term value of strong management teams
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.
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.
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and Mawer’s on the scene, to tell you the tale of 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.
Investing is a fitting example of an infinite game. Why is it that some players last longer in this game than others?
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.
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.
Over the last week, the world has seen a continued increase in COVID-19 cases and, consequently, a greater effort to contain the virus.
Throughout the week, governments around the world have continued to take more significant measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
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.
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.
One of our enduring beliefs is that investors serially underappreciate the long-term value of strong management teams
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.
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.
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and Mawer’s on the scene, to tell you the tale of 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.
Investing is a fitting example of an infinite game. Why is it that some players last longer in this game than others?
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.
Deputy CIO Christian Deckart discusses market performance in a “story of three quarters” and some new holdings we added to the portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer Paul Moroz discusses why the Research team’s post-mortem process is important, and some of their top learnings from 2020.
Lead portfolio manager, David Ragan, discusses how the portfolio did over the past year, why some companies were more resilient than others, and what makes skepticism a competitive advantage.
A look back on the major investment themes of 2020, and a look ahead at some of the risks and opportunities on our radar.
Our three hosts narrate Mawer's timely variation of "'Twas the week before Christmas"—an annual review of the year. Stay for the bloopers!
Front-of-mind investment learnings from equity analysts Justin Anderson and Joshua Samuel on the dynamic, evolving gaming universe.
Mawer U.S. Equity Portfolio Manager, Grayson Witcher, takes us through how the team approaches portfolio construction.
A deep dive into three new holdings: Stella-Jones, Ritchie Bros., and Granite REIT, and what we mean when we say “winning by not losing.”
A review of the quarter: the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on economic activity, continuing fiscal and monetary stimulus, and the run-up to the U.S. election.
Crista Caughlin, lead portfolio manager of Mawer’s fixed income strategies, discusses potential impacts of increasing global debt in a low interest rate environment and the three economic scenarios top of mind for the bond team.
CIO Paul Moroz discusses resilience, global monetary policy, and current themes such as TikTok and a potential “technological iron curtain.”
Building resiliency while finding opportunities in emerging markets.
Deputy CIO Christian Deckart discusses market performance in a “story of three quarters” and some new holdings we added to the portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer Paul Moroz discusses why the Research team’s post-mortem process is important, and some of their top learnings from 2020.
Lead portfolio manager, David Ragan, discusses how the portfolio did over the past year, why some companies were more resilient than others, and what makes skepticism a competitive advantage.
A look back on the major investment themes of 2020, and a look ahead at some of the risks and opportunities on our radar.
Our three hosts narrate Mawer's timely variation of "'Twas the week before Christmas"—an annual review of the year. Stay for the bloopers!
Front-of-mind investment learnings from equity analysts Justin Anderson and Joshua Samuel on the dynamic, evolving gaming universe.
Mawer U.S. Equity Portfolio Manager, Grayson Witcher, takes us through how the team approaches portfolio construction.
A deep dive into three new holdings: Stella-Jones, Ritchie Bros., and Granite REIT, and what we mean when we say “winning by not losing.”
A review of the quarter: the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on economic activity, continuing fiscal and monetary stimulus, and the run-up to the U.S. election.
Crista Caughlin, lead portfolio manager of Mawer’s fixed income strategies, discusses potential impacts of increasing global debt in a low interest rate environment and the three economic scenarios top of mind for the bond team.
CIO Paul Moroz discusses resilience, global monetary policy, and current themes such as TikTok and a potential “technological iron curtain.”
Building resiliency while finding opportunities in emerging markets.