The big ideas from the CFA Institute conference

This week, senior editor Dean DiSpalatro reported live from CFA Institute’s 69th annual conference.

If you missed any of his coverage, now’s your chance to catch up–we’ve brought it all together for you here:

Bond issuers behaving badly

Underwriters and investment bankers “present themselves as neutral referees, but they are inherently biased in favour of the issuer, because it’s the issuer who selects the bookrunning manager for the deal, and that’s how you make money—running the deal.” Read more.

How to tackle contrarian value investing

You don’t have to choose between higher returns and lower risk. Contrarian investing can deliver higher returns and lower risk, says Rupal J. Bhansali, executive vice president of Ariel Investments. She adds that when investing, it’s not enough to be right. You won’t get rewarded for being right if your view is consensus. That’s already priced in. Read more.

China’s biggest problem—and how to fix it

China’s biggest problem today is debt. That was the message of Michael Pettis, professor of International Finance at Guanghua School of Management, Peking University in Beijing. Read more.

A top-down approach to bottom-up stock picking

The fraction of active investors who are truly active has been shrinking. Peter Berezin, chief strategist from BCA Research, says about 20% are truly active. Read more.

2 ways to enhance portfolios

The industry tends to focus on return forecasting as a way to maximize returns. But there’s a better approach, argues Sebastien Page, co-head of the asset allocation group at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore, Ma. Read more.

What you can learn from public pensions

The size of [the] asset base [of pensions] is important, but it’s not everything. Clarity of purpose and governance are the most important things, says Ron Mock, president and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Read more.

Skill, Scale, and Luck in Active Management

“Luck is a big deal in this industry,” says Jacques Lussier, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at IPSOL Capital. As much as 1/3 of “alpha” is actually luck. Read more.

What the changing bond market means for investors

Expect global growth to remain fairly low, and that means neutral rate will remain low, says Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Caroline Wilkins. Read more.