Shock-horror, much of the financial services industry revolves around expectations management. When investors are forced to deal with an unknown future, expectations management is a key imperative for an asset manager / broker.

It is the usually feeble attempt to avoid volatility that detracts from long-term returns because it inevitably drives bad decisions.

It's tempting to think that in order to be a valuable team player, you should say “yes” to every request and task that is asked of you

Sir Isaac Newton nearly went broke investing in the South Sea Bubble of 1720-21. An experience which famously caused him to lament: “I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”

China A-shares have been included in some indexes for a few years but the index weightings will significantly increase in most available ETFs over the next couple of years

Nearly everything is achieved through small, consistent acts...oh, and don't break the golden rule.

The big takeaway from the GFC stock market puke was how quickly your own actions could harm the rest of your financial life. It really came down to understanding your own risk tolerance and how that fit into your time horizon.

If you cannot satisfactorily reconcile that someone is working in your best interest, do not proceed. It is so easy to get wrapped up in an exciting idea, however one thing I do know is that there are more great ideas than managers to make them a success.

As an investor it is impossible to catch all of the upside all of the time, nor we will not miss all of the downside, however by mitigating risk the long-term equation tends to work out well.

Step one is to be aware that capital flows around the globe to the markets and countries that are expected to provide the highest return.

Being a true long-term investor is one of the biggest edges you can have when investing.

Whether they admit it or not, most investors are “investing” for the next quarter or two. The trick is we must use this to our advantage, and this requires a necessity to expand our time horizon.

In overall performance terms I do know that that being down less than the market is far more important than being up more, over the medium to longer term.  The obsession with “beating the market” on the upside is absurd when mathematically to beat the market, you need to not get beaten in a down move

No longer can companies use a distribution advantage, a regulatory advantage, market share dominance, or some other barrier to entry that insulates them from competition

 This story is not about technology stocks, it’s about the value-add that mainstream companies will access because they can now quickly adopt technological solutions.

This unfolding scenario will affect investing outcomes but also how kids will be affected in the job market.

Stock market returns tend to be driven by a handful of big winners; for venture capital investors, it’s even more lopsided. Venture-capital funds typically have a 50 percent failure rate -- half of the investments lose money, with half of those being total losses

Managing risk in it’s most basic form is focusing on the potential for loss of a particular investment or trade. When a strategy relies on a trade being correct inevitably trouble will occur at some stage. If you are guilty of this, and you aren’t alone there.…something has to change.

"If you're early on in your career and they give you a choice between a great mentor or higher pay, take the mentor every time.  It’s not even close.  And don't even think about leaving that mentor until your learning curve peaks." Stanley Druckenmiller

"Some of these lessons needed to be actually experienced to be incorporated at a deep level in the decision-making of a team, whereas others could be gleaned secondhand,"

Among other great quotes that a current index investment in the US ignores (while the CAPE ration is in the high 20's) is that there is no "demanding of a margin of safety” or "waiting for a fat pitch”. So in extolling the positive virtues of S&P index investing, maybe Berkshire is actually heading ever so slightly in the the beta  direction.

Contrary to Mr Buffett's assertion, there is actually a growing movement (down under) of like-minded asset managers who subscribe to the logic of managing client funds for a zero management fee structure

It is human nature not to be satisfied with the certainty equivalent even though the certainty equivalent is very good. People exhibit risk aversion when it comes to most things, except when it comes to trying to beat the market. So if one actively chooses an ETF portfolio, this is speculation.... which is not so bad but just be honest about what you are doing.