FEG INSIGHT BRIDGE PODCAST

The Death of Diversification (and Value Too) with Rob Arnott

Written by FEG | July 14, 2021

Founder and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates, Rob Arnott, is deeply dedicated to the role of research in understanding and forecasting market trends. His commitment to research spans several decades, and he has published three books and more than 130 articles on various financial topics and earned several awards for his efforts, including seven Graham and Dodd Scrolls and four Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacob Levy awards.

In this episode, Greg and Rob sit down to talk about the fate of diversification (and value), how investors can appropriately size in a volatile market, whether or not smart money has gotten dumb, and why an investor should always seek to be curious. They also discuss key takeaways from Rob’s recent research and his capital market assumptions. Rob shares many important lessons in this episode and answers, once and for all, the question of whether or not diversification and value are “dead.”


Chapters

0:00 Intro

0:30 Episode Overview

1:16 Welcome and Introduction

2:45 Institutional Investors vs. Individual Investors: Has Smart Money Gotten Dumb?

6:01 Is Diversification Dead?

10:57 2010s and Diversification: A Bad Deal

13:41 Is Value Dead?

21:11 Sizing Value When it's Underperforming

24:14 Timing Investment Factors

32:34 Important Lessons for Investing and Life

37:10 Thoughts on Cryptocurrencies

38:39 Rob's Hobbies: Motorcycles, Wine, and Travel