Essays

Gently sceptical thoughts on investment and the wider world of finance – see my Medium publication The Patient Investor for more.

Making the case for long-term value investing – again

A new book by Jim Cullen, founder of New York-based Schafer Cullen Capital Management, restates the case for classic value investment principles

Share Power: a manifesto for giving control back to private investors

A new book by MoneyWeek editor Merryn Somerset Webb argues we can assert agency over companies through truly representative share ownership

Adapting the Efficient Market Hypothesis

Theories of efficient markets mislead because they seek to explain market behaviour according to the laws of physics rather than biology, says Adaptive Market Hypothesis proponent Andrew Lo

Trillions: a history of the rise and rise of passive investment

A new book by Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth surveys the history of index funds and considers their increasingly significant implications for the global economy

10 1/2 Notes on Beating the Market: a review

I review a brief but sharp polemic by hedge fund manager Paul Marshall on the possibility of beating the market

In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio: a review

A new book by Andrew W Lo and Stephen R Foerster profiling key figures in the development of modern portfolio theory offers a fresh perspective on the active versus passive debate

Investing to Save the Planet: a review of a new guide to the world of green finance

My review of a new book on green investment by Financial Times journalist Alice Ross, written for the Go Invest Green pensions project I’ve been working on this year.

The Economics of Oil and Gas

A review of a new book providing a helpful reference guide to the complex economics of the hydrocarbons sector

Boreholes, bottles and black alders: what will be left of us a million years from now

What traces of our energy infrastructure will be discernable in the far future? – a review of David Farrier’s Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils