On the Importance of Diversification During Bear Markets

Diversification is one of the simplest and easiest strategies that retail investors can follow to protect their portfolios from high volatility. Holding a wide variety assets across regions and countries and sectors and avoiding timing the market would go long in generating high returns. Trying to predict which sector will be winner during the next …

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Defensive Sectors’ Weightage in the S&P 500 Has Declined Since The 1990s

The S&P 500 Index is not as diversified as many investors think. In fact, the IT sector alone accounts for just over 25% of the index and the weightage of the defensive sector has fallen continuously since the 1990s. S&P 500 sector breakdown: Click to enlarge Source: S&P  The defensive sector used to account for …

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On the Revenue Exposure of Top 10 Companies in the MSCI Europe Index

Many multi-national firms based in the developed world have substantial exposure to overseas markets than their domestic markets. In fact, some derive a big portion of their revenue and earnings in foreign countries than their home countries. For instance, BHP Billiton Ltd is a FTSE 100 firm in the UK. However the mining giant earns …

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Two Key Differences Between S&P Emerging BMI and MSCI Emerging Markets Indices

The three largest index providers in the world are S&P DJI, MSCI, and FTSE Russell. For emerging markets, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is the most popular and widely used benchmark globally. Though MSCI and S&P indices are similar there are significant differences between the indices offered by these companies. It is important to understand these …

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On the Risks and Rewards of Investing in Single Country Emerging Market Funds

Single country funds are highly risky especially those related to emerging markets. Holding these funds for the long-term defined as five years or more requires strong conviction and patience and there is no guarantee that the bet would be a winner. I recently came across an article that discussed the risks and benefits of investing …

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