Indexing's Downside

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/09/indexings-downside

A professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, Jeffrey Wurgler, has a new paper out on the downside of index-linked investments. He writes, "the increasing popularity of index-linked investing may well be reducing its ability to deliver its advertised benefits while at the same time increasing its broader economic costs." More:

If a one-time inclusion effect of a few percentage points were the end of the story, then the overall impact of indexing on prices would be modest. But the inclusion effect is just the beginning. The return pattern of the newly-included S&P 500 member changes magically and quickly. It begins to move more closely with its 499 new neighbors and less closely with the rest of the market. It is as if it has joined a new school of fish.

by Ira Stoll  |  Sep 20, 2010 at 11:41 am Related Topics:  Education receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list