William J. Bernstein Quotes

40 Sourced Quotes

Mutual fund manager performance does not persist and the return of stock picking is zero.

William J. Bernstein
When it comes to fund managers and market strategists, this year's hero usually turns into next year's zero.

William J. Bernstein
The brokerage and mutual fund business form a financial colossus that bestrides modern financial, and increasingly, social and political life.

William J. Bernstein
The rub here is that buying when prices are low is always a very scary proposition. The low prices that produce high future returns are not possible without catastrophe and risk.

William J. Bernstein
We tend to think of technological progress as an ever accelerating affair, but it just isn't so.

William J. Bernstein
The deeper one delves, the worse things look for actively managed funds.

William J. Bernstein
Wealthy investors should realize that they are the cash cows of the investment industry, and that most of the exclusive investment vehicles available to them - separate accounts, hedge funds, limited partnerships, and the like - are designed to bleed them with commissions, transactional costs, and other fees.

William J. Bernstein
When a famous investor publishes a newsletter, it's a sure tip-off that his techniques have stopped working.

William J. Bernstein
It is often said that a monkey could run an index fund. Nothing could be further fro the truth. Precisely tracking an index requires a very high degree of market savvy, discipline and nerve.

William J. Bernstein
Investment planning and execution are two completely different animals.

William J. Bernstein
In finance as in life, there is often a huge chasm between what is expected and what actually transpires.

William J. Bernstein
We tend to think of the stock and bond markets as relatively recent historical phenomena, but, in fact, there have been credit markets since human civilization first took root in the Fertile Crescent.

William J. Bernstein
There are two kinds of investors, be they large or small: those who don't know where the market is headed and those who don't know what they don't know. Then again, there is a third type of investor: the investment professional, who indeed knows he doesn't know, but whose livelihood depends upon appearing to know.

William J. Bernstein
It's human nature to find patterns where there are none and to find skill where luck is a more likely explanation (particularly if you're the lucky manager).

William J. Bernstein
Most great financial innovators come from humble circumstances - nothing arouses fascination with financial assets quite like their absence.

William J. Bernstein
The essence of effective portfolio construction is the use of a large number of poorly correlated assets.

William J. Bernstein
While it is probably a poor idea to own actively managed funds in general, it is truly a terrible idea to own them in taxable accounts... taxes are a drag on performance of up to 4 percentage points each year... many index funds allow your capital gains to grow largely undisturbed until you sell... For the taxable investor, indexing means never having to say you're sorry.

William J. Bernstein
Ninety-nine percent of what you read about investing in magazines and newspapers, and 100% of what you hear on television is worse than useless.

William J. Bernstein
In fact, using entirely reasonable assumptions, you can make the Dow's discounted market value almost anything you want it to be.

William J. Bernstein
In other words, since you cannot successfully time the market or select individual stocks, asset allocation should be the major focus of your investment strategy, because it is the only factor affecting your investment risk that you can control.

William J. Bernstein
Journalism attracts people with exceptional linguistic talent, but I have found that very few have the mathematical sophistication to appreciate the difference between skill and luck.

William J. Bernstein
When the barbarians are at the gates, interest rates rise and bond prices fall precipitously.

William J. Bernstein
In fact, the nation's biggest investment pools are the retirement funds of the large corporations and governmental bodies, such as the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS), which manages an astounding $170 billion. These plans receive a level of professional management that even the nations wealthiest investors can only dream of.

William J. Bernstein
Human beings are not very good at taking losses or admitting failure.

William J. Bernstein
The worst possible time to invest is when the skies are the clearest.

William J. Bernstein