William J. Bernstein famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

A decade ago, I really did believe that the average investor could do it himself. I was wrong. I've come to the sad conclusion that only a tiny minority, at most one percent, are capable of pulling it off. Heck, if Helen Young Hayes, Robert Sanborn, Julian Robertson, and the nation's largest pension funds can't get it right, what chance does John Q. Investor have?
-- William J. Bernstein

#Believe #Average #Minorities
The essence of effective portfolio construction is the use of a large number of poorly correlated assets.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Essence #Numbers #Investing
It's bad enough that you have to take market risk. Only a fool takes on the additional risk of doing yet more damage by failing to diversify properly with his or her nest egg. Avoid the problem-buy a well-run index fund and own the whole market.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Running #Eggs #Risk
If your broker or investment advisor is not familiar with the concept of standard deviation of returns, get a new one.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Return #Investing #Investment
For the taxable investor, indexing means never having to say you're sorry.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Sorry #Mean #Investing
The typical fund company services 401k plan participants in the same way that Baby Face Nelson serviced banks.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Baby #Way #Faces
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

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

#Zero #Hero #Years
99% of fund managers demonstrate no evidence of skill whatsoever.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Skills #Investing #Evidence
Mutual fund manager performance does not persist and the return of stock picking is zero.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Zero #Investing #Return
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

#Skills #Luck #Patterns
No one in his right mind would walk into the cockpit of an airplane and try to fly it, or into an operating theater and open a belly. And yet they think nothing of managing their retirement assets. I've done all three, and I'm here to tell you that managing money is, in its most critical elements even more demanding than the first two.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Retirement #Airplane #Thinking
Wall Street is littered with the bones of those who knew just what to do, but could not bring themselves to do it.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Wall #Investing #Bones
The deeper one delves, the worse things look for actively managed funds.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Looks #Investing #Deeper
Do the math. Expect catastrophes. Whatever happens, stay the course.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Math #Catastrophe
The reason that 'guru' is such a popular word is because 'charlatan' is so hard to spell.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Reason #Guru #Charlatans
Investment success accrues not so much to the brilliant as to the disciplined.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Brilliant #Investment
There are two kinds of investors, be thay large or small: those who don't know where the market is headed, and those who don't know that they don't know.
-- William J. Bernstein

#Two #Kind #Investment

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