Much has been written in this publication’s pages about “ETF-mania” and the rise of passive investing. In fact, devoted readers need not look farther than last week’s Pull It Together (Part II) EVA to read a quick synopsis of Evergreen’s belief that the passive fad is sure to end poorly.
This week’s EVA is a continuation of last week’s “Pull It Together” issue. The main idea is to summarize the key factors and forces Evergreen sees impacting the financial markets now and, more importantly, in the future.
Every so often, I like to summarize our “CinemaScope” view of current conditions. Perhaps these days it should be called our “IMAX outlook”, but the point is to try to pull together our big picture perception of the financial and economic landscape.
Long-time EVA readers know that I am an unabashed admirer of my friend and partner, Charles Gave. Recently, I had a chance to chat with him in Whistler at the annual Gavekal retreat and, even though he is knocking on the door of the three-quarter century mark, he has not lost his wit nor his willingness to challenge prevailing orthodoxies.
The US has been a terrific place to invest since 2009. In fact, looking at one of the charts we presented in last week’s Infographic EVA, the S&P 500 has outperformed MSCI Asia Pacific by 101%, MSCI Europe by 107%, and MSCI Emerging Markets by 132% during that timeframe.