Hello Dirk,

I am aware of the SPIVA findings and it is one of the reasons that I am undertaking this series of articles. Yes, active investors have some things to account for (hence the title of my series, Alpha Wounds) and many things that they do that I believe damage returns (see other articles in the series, like last month's, and many more forthcoming). But the "volatility is risk" framework is not one of the things with which they need to answer.

Also, that most researchers continue to point to outdated research papers is also not something for which active managers should answer. My point in writing this series is to dig into why investment returns, net of risk and expenses, do not benefit individual investors. I hope you think this is a worthy topic.

It sounds like you are an investor who has concern about the success of your investments, yes? It also sounds as if you have some opinions that you would like to share and the floor is yours. In particular I would like to hear your views about passive investing and whether or not you believe it creates momentum effects. If you agree, then it would also be nice to hear your views about how to correct for these effects in performance evaluation.

Yours, in service,

Jason