Geoff Considine

Thoughts on Mohamed El-Erian's 'When Markets Collide'

Whidbey:

The point is not whether mutual funds apply portfolio theory. They don't--because they are selling to an audience that wants something different: high Morningstar ratings and low tracking error. Retail investors chase performance, so mutual fund managers tend to oblige them. A lot of mutual fund managers are also closet indexers. I have documented this stuff in a range of articles. Look at the endowments at Harvard and Yale and read institutional research, and you see a very different view of the world--and that is why this book is so useful: it shows this perspective to retail investors.

This is not a "how to book" and it does not reveal any earth shattering secret momentum trading strategies. This book provides insight into why so many institutional investors beat retail investors soundly.