Managing Your Own Index Fund Portfolio

The topic of index investing seems to come up quite a bit, now that we are studying finance.

BTW, I used to work for a Wealth Management software company, which specialized in software that did asset allocation and investment selection for the ultra high net worth investor. While learning the ins and outs of the domain (CAPM, Monte Carlo simulation and Markowitz mean variance analysis) I came across a website that was great for the passive investor. The investor that wanted to invest in the true "market portfolio" or something close to it that all the theory from finance has taught us.

Here's the link to the site:
http://www.indexinvestor.com/

The proof is in the pudding: my portfolio is about a 80% stock 20% bond reference allocation, and is diversified into about 12 different index mutual funds and ETFs. You see, I decided to go "passive investor" and not try to beat the market and guess which fund or stock was hot for the upcoming year. And over past five years, I've gotten the expected return for the portfolios I put together (12.8%) after subscribing to the Index Investor website above. My target return was 10%, so it worked out pretty good, even after the market correction a few weeks back. Sure beats those 150 basis points I was paying that dude from Smith-Barney! And it was with a lot less risk.

How did I achieve this? I bailed from Charles Schwab, moved all my taxable money into Brown (lowest transaction costs for ETFs. Note: Brown was recently acquired by E*Trade), and also consolidated my retirement funds into Vanguard, which offers the best selection of no-load index-based mutual funds. I also did a bunch of research on 529 College Saving Funds, and it turns out California's isn't that great but Nevada's is (they use Vanguard). So those of you who have children should consider saving tax-free for college in the Vangard 529 using index mutual funds.

So now I sleep better and night and don't worry about my portfolio. I just worry about school.

-Chairman P

Link to Why Valley VCs are Like the Mob

A lot of our class is thinking about going into Venture Capital (if they aren't already in it). Here's an interesting blog post a friend passed on to me on Why Valley VC's are Like the Mob.

Also, I should send props out to Anil for taking on Class 32 blogging to a new level. He's written a very interesting post on the Economic Lives of the Poor. For those of you looking for more earthy entertainment value, there is Men In Thongs and Beer.

WEMBA Career Management Survey Published

As of today, Zia and I have published a WEMBA Career Management Survey on Zoomerang to gather data for what we should do for a WEMBA Career Trek. So for those of you in the Class 32 cohort, go vote! There's a link in the email I sent out on Yahoo Groups.

-Chairman P

Nichole's pictures from The Old Ship

I've snailed in posting Nichole's pictures from 1/23, but here they are (thanks Nichole):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=11xp1mb2.9pddhw0m&Uy=kygydw&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

We'll all remember The Old Ship fondly after this is all long done.....

The Coefficient of Aging

It’s been quite a while since I last published a blog post.

Here’s the reason: Term 3 is difficult. Very difficult. And psssst: Wharton makes you old. It ages you.

Oh yeah, and I should mention that I started a new job in January, which was not exactly great planning on my part. There’s a few other classmates that also started new jobs this term, and from our discussions about it, it’s not recommended. But it can be done. It just takes a lot out of you to do it.

So as I sit here reflecting on Term 3, I realize that my personal coefficient of aging has increased this term. There are a few more wrinkles under my eyes, a few more gray hairs in my sideburns, and those bags under my eyes make me look….well….very tired. My golf clubs are sitting in my garage still packed in my travel case from my trip in November to Maui, and I haven’t watched my TIVO in days. And my Outlook task list has gotten a mile long. (I was wondering why the WEMBA grads all seemed really really smart but also very aged…)

It’s not really the subject matter (marketing, finance, operations, communications) that makes it a difficult term at Wharton; it’s the sheer volume of information that you need to absorb and learn. Add the fact that we have class after dinner from 8-10pm three times this term, and you get the recipe for a difficult term. The previous class said that Term 3 was the most difficult of the program, and I think that they are correct.

So, here’s my advice in surviving Term 3, in Letterman reverse-order ranking:
10. Stop blogging in Term 3. Check, did this one. Whoever in Class 33 wants to become the class blogger, make sure you spread the wealth and share the blogging with others.
9. Stock up on Red Bull. Doh, tried to use coffee and it was too weak. It doesn’t help when you are trying to stay awake in your communications class at 9:45pm in the evening after waking up at 5am and sitting through a whole day of class. If we can Wharton to supply some after dinner, that would be great.
8. Keep up with the work. Whoops, missed this too. Don’t get behind in your reading or class preparation, or it’ll kill you. Be warned. If you don’t, try to perfect the art of reading the case during the break right before the discussion. It’s called just in time case prep! Just don’t sit in the front of the class.
7. Unplug your TIVO and cancel your newspaper subscription. Check on the first one only. There is no time for watching TV, period. I’ve cancelled all my season passes. I haven’t seen a movie in ages either, except for “Pursuit of Happyness” last week. (Which is quite good, BTW). Oh yeah, and there’s a stack of unread newspapers sitting in my recycle container every week.
6. Get ahead in your reading. Check, but it didn’t work! My strategy was to read ahead in finance and marketing prior to the start of the term. It worked for about weekend, but there was so much to learn that I had forgotten what I read two weeks before. So my strategy had limited value.
5. Collude. Big CHECK in all capitals. As we learned in Microeconomics, collusion works. If you collude (when you can of course) with your study group and classmates, it will really help! For example, just knowing that the 2005 OPIM Final had most of the solutions to the homework was key for me.
4. Prepare for an adverse productivity shock. Check. If you take a new job, prepare for the massive adverse productivity shock (and labor supply shock, as Kip correctly points out) affecting your grades.
3. Optimize your time. Check. Big check. You will find yourself constantly feeling like you are behind (which you are). And then you will find yourself trying to optimize every moment of your day. And then you will fall further behind. So this term, I started to wake up earlier to study in the morning before heading to work. It’s still a struggle to get up at 5am every day, but it allows me to spend time with my family in the evenings. For those of you considering going to Wharton: this really is the FT program, in terms of curriculum, faculty, AND time required. It’s a ton of work when you do it FT. And it’s even harder when you are working FT.
2. Focus on the big picture. Hey, we are almost 50% done now. The first three terms have flown by, and this roller coaster will soon end before we know it. There is so much truth to what my cousin said to me about doing one of these EMBAs: DO NOT stretch it out and do a three year program, and choose one that you can get over with as soon as possible. Let’s just say that if Wharton had a 1 year program I would do it. There’s only 14 months left to go! I hear it gets easier after this term. We shall see…
1. Guard against the aging process. Check. I am using wrinkle cream, keeping up my workouts, taking lots of vitamin C, and drinking lots of water. Ok, maybe the last two more than the first two. J But at least the WEMBA prospective students that come through the class still recognize me from the picture on my blog profile…

-Chairman P