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Don’t Expect the Easy Market Gains of the Reagan Era
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 1/25/17

Investors excited by the boost the US election gave to US stocks should recall that starting conditions matter. This is not 1981, the beginning of the Reagan era.

Think Before You Sell
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 2/11/16
If you’re a long-term investor, you should be confident in two key beliefs before you act on your impulse to get out of today’s rocky stock market.

Sustaining a Foundation, Stepping Up as Fiduciaries
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 11/17/15
Establishing a foundation can be a great way to pursue charitable objectives, but it often brings a host of fiduciary responsibilities that donors may feel ill-equipped to handle. In this hypothetical case study, a couple of entrepreneurs sought our advice on asset allocation.

Sticking with Your Asset Allocation
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 11/10/15
An investment plan will work only if an investor has the emotional fortitude to stick with it. That’s easier said than done, particularly with a more aggressive portfolio, when market conditions are rough.

There’s No Free Lunch with Structured Notes
by Seth Masters, Richard Weaver, John McLaughlin of AllianceBernstein, 8/24/15
For yield-hungry investors, the lure of structured notes may seem difficult to resist. However, our analysis shows that the promise of safe, outsized yields shouldn’t be swallowed whole.

Structured Notes: Read the Fine Print
by Seth Masters, Richard Weaver, John McLaughlin of AllianceBernstein, 8/17/15
Structured notes have gained in popularity, but investors would be wise to read the fine print carefully. Our research indicates that these complex instruments rarely live up to their intriguing claims.

A Wild Ride for Global Bond Yields
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 5/12/15
Bond yields in key markets around the world have been on something of a roller-coaster ride, moving up quickly in recent months. Ten-year Treasury rates closed at 2.28% on May 11, up from 1.65% at the end of January.

Lessons Learned in 2014
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 12/10/14
In 2014, US stocks forged ahead, international developed and emerging-market stocks lagged, bonds did better than expected, and the IRS took a bigger bite. Here are some lessons for US investors to carry forward into 2015.

Lessons Learned in 2013
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 12/15/13
In 2013, interest rates rose, bonds fell, equities soared, and US income-tax rates climbed higher. Before starting to place bets for 2014, investors would be wise to think about some important lessons from 2013.

Risk Management: An Ounce of Prevention
by Seth Masters, Daniel Loewy, Martin Atkin of AllianceBernstein, 11/1/13
They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But if the sickness is excessive portfolio volatility, prevention can entail more than one step.

The Party's Over. Why Own Commodities?
by Jon Ruff, Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 9/10/13
Commodity prices soared during the first decade of this century. But now the partys over: new sources of supply are coming on line just as demand from China is slowing, leading to expectations of price declines. So should investors shun commodity-related investments?

DC Solutions: Adding Global Bonds to Target-Date Funds
by Alison Martier, Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 6/10/13
Within US defined contribution (DC) target-date funds (TDFs), whether were considering customized TDFs for larger plans or packaged solutions for smaller plans, our research shows that having a bond allocation that is not US-centric can lead to better outcomes and enhance the effectiveness of the glide path.

DC Plan Sponsors Should Look Further than Their Own Backyard
by Alison Martier, Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 5/21/13
US defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors large and small are seeking ways to help plan participants achieve better outcomes. Over the last 30 years, compelling evidence has accumulated that suggests currency-hedged global bonds may be an important part of the solution.

US Stocks: Third Times the Charm
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 3/22/13
At 1550, the S&P 500 has regained the peak it reached in March of 2000 (when the tech bubble burst) and again in October of 2007 (before the credit crunch hit). But we think the third times the charm: We think the stock market still has room to rise because equities are now more attractively valued and of higher quality than they were at previous peaks.

Reducing the Risk from Adding Stock Exposure
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 3/15/13
Adding other sources of diversification could significantly reduce the risk from increasing stock exposure, our research suggests.

How Much Risk Does Adding Stocks Pose?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 3/7/13
Investors have good reasons for their recent net increase in stock fund purchasesand good reasons to remain anxious, in our view. While market volatility has returned to normal, memories of the wild market swings of the past five years loom large. Here's what we think about the risk of increasing stock exposure now.

Is It Time to Get Back into Stocksor Too Late?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 3/1/13
After five years of fleeing stocks for the perceived safety of bonds, US mutual fund investors became net buyers of stock funds in January. While some see the return of the retail investor as a negative indicator for stocks, we say, "Better late than never."

In Defense of Commodity Futures
by Seth Masters, Jon Ruff of AllianceBernstein, 2/15/13
Several prominent pension funds have slashed their commodity futures investments for delivering poor returns with higher volatility than usual, while failing to diversify equity exposures as expected, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. If inflation rises, they may regret it.

The Next Step to Increasing DC Plan Participation
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 2/13/13
Defined contribution (DC) plans can deliver benefits only if workers choose to participate. Unfortunately, about one in every five eligible US employees chooses not to, according to research from Aon Hewitt. So it's encouraging that 77% of DC plan sponsors stress the importance of increasing participation in their plans, according to a recent survey we conducted. Automatic enrollment has helped lift participation in many DC plans. But how can plans take the next step toward 100% participation?

The Myth of the Nest Egg
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 2/1/13
For decades we've focused on the nest-egg notion as the goal for retirement saving, benchmarking our progress in relation to that lump sum. But it has no context other than probably being the single biggest "paycheck" most of us will ever see. That lump sum may sound great to me, but what does it mean for my spending over 20 or even 30 years without a paycheck?

The Road to Restoring Confidence in Retirement
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 1/25/13
The next-generation DC design can provide participants with better outcomes and more control. Particularly if the default includes lifetime income, participants no longer need to struggle with almost impossibly complex planning problems.

Are E&Fs Jeopardizing Their Missions?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 11/29/12
Many US endowments and foundations (E&Fs) still plan to spend 5% of their assets each year, despite unusually low expected returns. We think few understand how likely it is that this will limit their ability to fulfill their missions in perpetuity.

Stocks and Bonds: Comparing the Range of Potential Outcomes
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/21/12
Investors fleeing stocks have mostly sought shelter in bonds. That's understandable, given their relative stability and reliable income. But it's important to compare long-term expected returns, too. While bonds can be volatile in the short term, over longer time horizons, expected returns for bonds are easy to project: they are close to the starting yield, and the range of possible outcomes is narrow. Today, yields are extraordinarily low.

The Fundamental Case for the 20,000 Dow
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/13/12
While some people deem stocks expensive relative to 10-year trailing earnings, we take a forward-looking approach. It starts with the premise that the stock market is not a casino and stock prices are not pulled out of thin air: they reflect the intrinsic value of companies' future earnings.

Are Stocks Too Expensive Now?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/6/12
Not in our view. Although we recognize that the US and global economies continue to be scarred by the credit crunch that began in 2008, we think stock prices already discount the risks. Investors today have good reason to worry about stocks. Europe, the US and emerging markets are facing real problems todayand economic recoveries after financial crises almost always take longer than recoveries after ordinary downturns.

Note to Bond King: Check Your Math
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/6/12
The Wall Street Journal published an article on August 1 headlined: "Bill Gross: Equities are Dead." In fairness to Gross, what he actually wrote in his August "Investment Outlook" was, "the cult of equities is dying." We agree with most of Gross's argumentbut not with his unsupported forecast of extremely low stock returns. Let's take a look at Gross's claims...

What History Suggests About the Future of Stocks
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/1/12
Some experts today argue that the world has entered a New Normal condition in which stocks have permanently lost their return edge. We've heard this before. It was wrong then, and we think it's wrong now, too. In 1979, BusinessWeek published a cover story famously called The Death of Equities. now, stock market returns had lagged 10-year Treasury returns for a decade, although for somewhat different reasons.

Are Investors Worried About the Right Risk?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 7/27/12
Individual and institutional investors alike have been shifting their capital from stocks to cash and bonds at a rapid rate in recent years, despite extraordinarily low interest rates. But if investors stop to weigh the importance of two different types of risk, they'll see they still need stocks. We think that 10 years from now, investors who don't will wish they had stayed in stocks or added to them
28 results found.