Top Five Articles from November: Equity Valuations, Amazon, Palm Oil

1. Keep It Simple: 11 Rules for Equity Valuations

James J. Valentine, CFA, shared his 11 rules for equity valuations and setting price targets at the CFA Institute Conference: Equity Research and Valuation 2017. Paul McCaffrey provides a synopsis.

2. Three Tips for Evidence-Based Retirement Plans

Isaac Presley, CFA, has a few suggestions to put a little evidence-based thinking into your clients’ retirement plans.

3. Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Liability-Driven Investment Strategies

The portfolio construction techniques popularized by modern portfolio theory (MPT) are not always practical, writes Dan Tammas-Hastings, CFA. That’s why liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies are generating increased attention.

4. Active vs. Passive vs. Amazon et al.

The top 10% of firms account for 80% of all profits, Sloane Ortel observes. This leaves us with two seemingly conflicting truths: Winners win bigger than ever, but Amazon, one of the world’s biggest winners, is not making much in the way of profits.

5. The Palm Oil Industry: Visualized through Big Data

Palm oil is an inexpensive and highly versatile vegetable oil derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree. And with annual sales of around $50 billion, palm oil is also a big business, albeit one with oversized risks. Gabriel Thoumi, CFA, FRM, and Kalev Leetaru use data visualizations to better understand the sector’s interconnections.

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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.

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