Smart(er) Investing How Academic Insights Propel the Savvy Investor

This book identifies and discusses the most successful investing practices with an emphasis on the academic articles that produced them and why this research led to popular adoption and growth in $AUM.

This book identifies which academic articles turned investment ideas were the most innovative and influential in the practice of investment management. Each article is discussed in terms of the asset management process: strategy, portfolio construction, portfolio implementation, and risk management. Some examples of topics covered are factor investing, the extreme growth of trading instruments like Exchange Traded Funds, multi-asset investing, socially responsible investing, big data, and artificial intelligence.

This book analyzes a curated selection of peer-reviewed academic articles identified among those published by the scientific investment community.  The book briefly describes each of the articles,  how and why each one changed the way we think about investing in that specific asset class, and provides insights as to the nuts and bolts of how to take full advantage of this successful investment idea. It is as timely as it is informative and will help each investor to focus on the most successful strategies, ideas, and implementation that provide the basis for the efficient accumulation and management of wealth. 

Section I: How to Read and Evaluate Academic Research 

Chapter 1: What Constitutes Good Investment Research?

Chapter 2: A Roadmap to Reading an Academic Article

Section II: The Best Investing Ideas

Section II.A Best Ideas from Quantitative Finance

Chapter 3: Index Investing: It Makes Active Management Better

Chapter 4: Factor Investing: Challenging the Market Index with Smart Beta Products

Chapter 5: Multi-Asset Investing: Challenging the Industry Obsession with Alpha

Chapter 6: Tail Risk Hedging: It is an Asset Allocation Decision

Section II.B Best ideas from Social Finance

Chapter 7: Responsible Investing: Deep Roots in the Values of Western Society

Chapter 8: Equity and Rewards-Based Crowdfunding: A Potential Disrupter

Section II.C Best Innovative Ideas

Chapter 9: Big Data and Artificial Intelligence: A Revolution in Investment Management

Chapter 10: Cryptocurrencies:  A Fledgling Asset Class, but It’s Too Early to Tell

Chapter 11: Women in Finance: What Does the Research Show?

Elisabetta Basilico is the co-editor of academicinsightsoninvesting.com and has 15 years of experience in international financial settings spanning from academia to institutions (pension funds, foundations, and family offices). Her core skills include turning academic insights into quantitative investment models and ideas with specific expertise in global wealth management, asset allocation, liquid investments, stock picking signals, fund picking, and general statistical analysis. She is a holder of the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) designation since 2007 and obtained a PhD from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. She has taught and conducted quantitative research at various universities and is a co-author of various articles published in peer-reviewed journals.

Tommi Johnsen is currently the co-editor of academicinsightsoninvesting.com, is the former Director of the Reiman School of Finance, and an emeritus professor at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She has worked extensively as a research consultant and investment advisor for institutional investors in the areas of quantitative methods and portfolio construction. She taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels and published research in several areas including: capital markets, portfolio management and performance analysis, financial applications of econometrics, and the analysis of equity securities. These publications have appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals. She received her PhD from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a major field of study in Investments and a minor in Econometrics.