Do other academic degrees provide special skills in index or passive investing?
Yes and No. Active trading has a very complex and arcane language designed – in my opinion – to be deliberately confusing to laypeople. Fortunately for laypeople, active trading doesn’t work, and the knowledge required to ‘get’ the major concepts of index investing are within almost anyone’s grasp. This is as it should be: the best ideas can all be easily understood, at least in their general principles. On the other hand, to really understand the details of Modern Portfolio Theory does require some math, but no more than what anyone graduating from Brown University with a degree in economics would be required to grasp. Passive investing continues to evolve, especially in the areas around tax management and rebalancing, and Brendan’s job is to understand these nuances in detail, and then to translate them into simple, actionable concepts for his clients.
Related Questions
- Do any Canadian academic institutions offer special undergraduate or graduate degrees for students in the CGA program?
- Do designations such as CFP, CFA, and AIF demonstrate or confer special knowledge about index or passive investing?
- Index fund investing is passive. Why not choose actively managed mutual funds?
