Manager Skill vs Luck Harvard’s Endowment Posted on October 5, 2016August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Fairway’s third quarter commentary has been published. Keeping up with the Joneses has distracted Harvard’s endowment from its true mission. Here is some background on what happened: First, the actual endowment report. Harvard lost 2% over the last year, driven into the ground by what I call conspicuous sophistication. The… Read more
Manager Skill vs Luck The Tyranny of the Calendar Posted on August 8, 2016August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott We are all beholden to the tyranny of the calendar. Monthly or quarterly account statements tie a nice bow on a period of time, but can lend false significance to a time period’s returns. If you’ve got a brokerage account or 401(k), you probably got a statement ending on 6/30/2016. As… Read more
Manager Skill vs Luck Wisdom vs Intelligence Posted on April 19, 2016August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott For investors, it’s more valuable to be wise than intelligent. The investment world is littered with the carcasses of funds run by the ‘smartest guys in the room’. In the investing ecosystem, intelligence is a given. Ivy League credentials saturate fund manager bios. Sophisticated quantitative models crunch numbers while algorithms trade… Read more