Five Principles to Hold Onto (Even When Your Boss Says the Opposite)

Abstract

Although finance practitioners almost universally learn in school that the Sharpe market model, which separates all returns into alpha and beta, is the starting point for a number of key investment insights, they often forget, or disregard, this knowledge once they are on the job. The five most important insights that a practitioner should hold dear, regardless of what the boss says, are 1) the importance of making alpha and beta decisions separately; 2) the zero-sum nature of active management; 3) the different criteria needed to make alpha and beta decisions; 4) the great value of alpha successfully delivered; and 5) the desirability of paying appropriate fees for each return component or, in other words, high fees for alpha, low fees for beta.