The opening session at this year's GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) came along with some unexpected scary stuff. The topic was pooled funds, and the speakers (Annie Lo and Ann Putallaz) provided us with some insights into a guidance statement (GS)...

Four of us from our company (Chris Spaulding, Jed Schneider, and Steve Sobhi are joining me) are in beautiful Boston for the annual GIPS(R) conference. As we have for roughly the past 15 years, we are sponsoring this event. I didn't attend last year, and was told...

Probably sparked by (a) my discovery of the TV show, The Big Bang Theory, and (b) the fairly recent news about the Higgs boson, I recently began reading Leon Lederman's The God Particle. Mind you, I have JUST begun, but already stumbled upon something that I...

A few years ago, when our younger son, Douglas, began to participate in the "Tough Mudder" events, he called to tell us how he did. He told my wife that he finished in, as I recall, something like two hours. My wife responded with great pride. When she communicated...

TSG and Brightscope announced today that UAPS is now open for public comment.We are very pleased that the announcement has already garnered some attention: both MarketWatch and InvestmentNews have run stories, with more expected. The public comment period will last...

I'm probably beating a dead horse, but will persevere, regardless.This past weekend's WSJ had an interesting article by Stephen Hawking ("A Brief History of a Best Seller"), in which he discusses his famed book's origin. His editor pestered him to make it more...

I love dictionary.com; it has a "word of the day" which is often one I'm unfamiliar with. While many are words that fail to inspire me, some do.A few weeks ago, battology was the word they introduced.What a great word! I knew at first it was one I'd like.When I...

I recently conducted a "non-GIPS(R)" verification for a client's sector returns. They have sliced up their portfolio in a dozen ways (e.g., U.S. growth and value; small, mid, and large cap; emerging markets) and presented returns for a multi-year period. They chose to...

We have known Mark a long time, and respect and like him a great deal. We know that he will be a great addition to our team, and are anxious for him to join us. This new position demonstrates our commitment to the European market, and our desire to expand our services...

Last week I offered a theory as to why retail investors may not be interested in rates of return, and it resulted in numerous comments from readers. As I was preparing this post, I read the following in an "Op Ed" piece in today's WSJ, by David R. Henderson, titled...