Mack McQuown recalled finance before computers when weekly share prices for ~50–200 NYSE stocks were hand-collected, which limited analysis and indexing.
That data curation at MIT/Harvard led to early index ideas and set the stage for modern quantitative investing.

insights

INSIGHT

CRSP Database Exposed Active Manager Shortfalls

Robin Wigglesworth described how the CRSP project manually assembled prices and corporate corrections, proving stocks' long-term returns and revealing active managers underperformed.
The cleaned database showed market returns exceed many active funds once dividends, tax differences, and security types were corrected.

insights

INSIGHT

Market Efficiency Means No Free Alpha After Fees

Eugene Fama defined market efficiency: prices reflect available information, so stock-picking won't systematically beat risk‑adjusted expected returns.
Empirically, actively managed portfolios' excess returns center around zero before fees and become negative after fees.

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The Reading Challenge - What's Up?

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The Roush Reminder Community

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The Year End Recap - 2023

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The Rosh Reminder Podcast Episode 233

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Data Is the Holy Grail of Analysis

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The History of Index Funds

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The Impact of Academic Research in Asset Management

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The University of Chicago and the Index Fund Revolution

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Indexing Is Going to Be Big Thing, Right?

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Is Active Management Making the Market Efficient?

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What Is the Difference Between Index and Market Cap Weight of Strategies?

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How Do Value Tilts Change Over Time?

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How Do Value Tilts Affect the Value of a Stock?

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How to Grow a Portfolio of 100% Small Cap Value Stocks

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Is There a Difference Between a Low Price and a High Discount?

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Index Fund Tipping Point

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The Market for Manager Skill Is Highly Efficient

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The Flow Performance Relationship Is Not as Fast as With Stock Markets

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What Do You Think About the Index Fund Revolution?

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Investing in Transformational Technologies

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Private Equity in Europe vs Public Equity in the US

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Is Private Equity a Diversifying Asset Class?

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Investing Strategies During Poor Performance

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Are Emotions Detrimental to Decision Making?

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Learning About Money Is About Learning About Yourself

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The Pursuit of the Goal

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The Power of Identifying Yourself

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It has been an amazing year for the podcast. We have had some incredible guests during 2022 who have provided us and listeners with insights and thought-provoking ideas about the world of finance. We covered a lot of ground and to wrap up the year we decided to recap some of our favourite moments for listeners. In this episode, we highlight the many themes covered during this year, such as the basics of investing, stocks and bonds, how to make wise investment decisions, gender inequality, asset management, index funds, market trends, and portfolio management. We also highlight some of the indirectly topics indirectly related to finance such as the value of happiness, enjoying the pursuit of happiness, the importance of goal setting, and much more. Join us as we reflect on some of our best moments from the year and provide an overview of the many vital lessons we have learned in this final episode of the year for the Rational Reminder podcast.

Key Points From This Episode:

Mac McQuown explains how the data revolution changed the game of investing. (0:09:05)
Robin Wigglesworth and tracking the performance of portfolios in the 60s. (0:12:56)
Professor Fama shares what it is like to see the impact of his academic work on the practice of asset management. (0:16:02)
Gus Sauter tells us about the role the University of Chicago played in the index fund revolution. (0:18:41)
Professor Fama unpacks what it means for a market to be efficient. (0:20:52)
Gerard O'Reilly and the differences in the types of market strategies available. (0:24:27)
Professor Betermier shares his research from multiple papers concerning tendencies towards growth and value stocks. (0:28:50)
Eduardo Repetto tells us whether having a portfolio consisting of 100% small-cap value stocks makes sense. (0:36:06)
Professor Koijen explains whether index funds distort market prices and make markets less efficient. (0:40:30)
Professors Berk and van Binsbergen discuss if it is possible to find skilled fund managers before they are absorbed by their fund. (0:43:44)
Professor Cederburg explains how data sets can be upwardly biased and why you need to be aware of it when looking at data. (0:48:15)
Bill Janeway describes the three-player game regarding investments. (0:50:51)
Professor Phalippou compares the performance of private equity relative to public equities. (0:53:42)
Antti Ilmanen tells us how investors can stick with an investment strategy during times of low performance. (0:59:10)
Professor List tells us how often people should check their investment portfolios. (1:01:56)
Leonard Mlodinow explains how the rational mind and the emotional mind are intertwined. (1:04:56)
Professor Edmans's Grow the Pie and making the world a better place. (1:07:27)
Rebecca Walker outlines the effect learning about money has on people. (1:11:15)
Colleen Ammerman describes the current state of women in the workplace. (1:13:21)
Find out why the pursuit of a goal should be enjoyable with Professor Fishbach. (1:15:40)
Andrew Hallam talks about life satisfaction after middle age and how to get there sooner. (1:20:28)
Jay van Bavel details the effect of group identity on goal setting. (1:23:08)
Professor Frank unpacks the relationship between the consumption of luxury goods and happiness. (1:26:55)
Professor Bohns provides insight into why people are under-confident in their social lives. (1:31:01)
Professor Fama reveals how many hours a day the brain can handle deep work. (1:34:24)
Cassie Holmes and why happiness is a good thing from a scientific perspective. (1:35:30)
Colonel Chris Hadfield shares the lesson he learned as an astronaut that he applies to his everyday life. (1:38:52)