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Simple, but Not Easy

Hello, and welcome to Simple, but Not Easy, where we turn complicated financial developments into actionable ideas. This is a podcast from Morningstar’s Wealth Group, where we equip financial advisors with our best ideas to remove friction and help clients achieve goals.

Episodes

Episode 95

We’ve got the same thing on our mind as the rest of the market—uncertainty. What’s going to happen? Why? When? And what should we do about it? Well, in this episode, taken from a recently recorded webinar, we do our best to address those concerns. We also hope to allay some of the associated fears. To do so, we’ll hear from Tyler Dann, our Head of Research in the Americas; Ricky Williamson, a Portfolio Manager and our Head of U.S. Outcome-Based Strategies; and Paul Arnold, Co-Head of Asset Allocation Strategies.
Episode 0

Terry Hawkins, sales manager at Morningstar Investment Management and Paul Kaplan, research director for Morningstar Canada, discuss dollar-cost averaging, or the practice of investing slowly over time instead of in one lump sum. Research by Kaplan and others show that dollar-cost averaging might be expected to underperform a lump-sum approach. But what if it's what gets an investor into the markets?
Episode 0

In this episode, John Owens and Ryan Murphy talk about why price-weighted indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average can be distracting to investors. John, who's a senior equity portfolio manager at Morningstar Investment Management, explains why investors should disregard single-day Dow point drops, and also any short-term performance. Ryan, who's head of decision science at Morningstar Investment Management, shares some recent research that shows someone's risk perspective can be affected by what they pay attention to. Together, our guests discuss how discipline and nudges can help investors ignore the noise and stay focused on their financial goals.
Episode 93

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,” author H.P. Lovecraft once wrote. “And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Fear of the unknown is no stranger to the investment world these days. We’re living in scary times. And the investors who aren’t feeling jumpy right now tend to fall into one of two categories: those who have a plan—and those who haven’t a clue. Let's talk about how to manage your fear of the unknown when it comes to inflation and rising rates—and why doing so can help you avoid making the wrong moves at the wrong time.
Episode 92

Short-term worries versus long-term goals—which are guiding your investment decisions? If you’ve done your homework and you’ve given careful consideration to achieving the financial results you want, that question is easier to answer—even if it remains nerve-wracking to stay the course. Here in early 2022, we’re awash in short-term concerns once again. Between inflation, rising interest rates, and more, it’s easy to question the faith you had when the outlook was brighter. So, with that in mind for this episode, we’re focusing on how to keep your worries at bay and your eye on the ball.
Episode 0

"[W]e can’t avoid the reality that we’re experiencing and probably will continue to experience stress, uncertainty, and change. But the question is, how do we cope?" — Sarah Newcomb Given recent market volatility, we thought it might be helpful to revisit this episode from July 13, 2020, which features two experts on investor behavior and decision-making. Sarah Newcomb, director of behavioral science at Morningstar, Inc., discusses emotions brought on by market loss, talks about how they can affect decisions, and offers some ways to cope. Ryan Murphy, head of decision sciences at Morningstar Investment Management, discusses cognitive biases to watch out for and ways investors can make better decisions.
Episode 91

Rising Interest Rates. New COVID-19 variants. Inflationary pressures. Those and other factors are on the minds of investors as we head into 2022. Will the new year be one of prosperity, or is it time to fortify your defenses? The truth is that it’s nearly impossible to know. And that’s why we at Morningstar follow a mantra of, ”Don’t predict—prepare.” In this episode, we ring in 2022 with our take on how to best prepare for what’s to come, no matter how handy you may or may not be with a crystal ball. In fact, we note that if you address the future properly, you don’t need to play soothsayer at all. It’s not about prognostication. It’s about preparation. And at the end of the hour, we hope you’ll have a clearer idea of how to be better prepared.
Episode 90

Environmental, social, and governance. More commonly called ESG, it used to be seen in many parts of the investment world as a niche specialty that was mostly about virtue—something that was nice to do. But now there’s been no question that it’s something we need to do, particularly coming out of Glasgow’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26. Nearly 500 financial-services firms from around the world agreed to align $130 trillion with the goals specified by the Paris Agreement, with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In this special short episode, we hear from Global Chief Investment Officer Dan Kemp on the ramifications of COP26 and the outlook for ESG for investment advisors and their clients in the coming year.
Episode 89

Inflation. It's showing up in headlines and in conversations between everyone from political pundits to investment professionals and clients. It’s no different for us here at Morningstar, and most of what we’re hearing boils down to two key questions: what are our views on inflation, moving forward, and what are we doing to prepare for the potential threat of a continuing rise? In this episode, the conversation revolves around what’s driving inflation in the short and long term, ways we can try to protect investors from it, and how our Real Return portfolio series aims to provide returns that beat inflation.
Episode 86

China is a key talking point in the investment community today, as a regulatory crackdown has spooked markets. Chinese regulators have targeted specific sectors such as technology, education and real estate as part of a crackdown aimed at aligning the Chinese private sectors with its long-term policy agenda. In today’s episode, we will take a closer look at recent events in China and discuss both risks and potential opportunities in Chinese stocks today.
Episode 84

ESG investing, which focusses on an investment’s environmental, social, and governance impact or risk, has grown immensely in recent years, attracting significant inflows. But what happens to ESG investing during a market downturn? Are ESG considerations left by the wayside as investors focus on financial market risks? Ryan Murphy, Head of Decision Sciences for Morningstar Investment Management, discusses his research on the behavioral sustainability stress test.
Episode 82

As more of the US reopens and people begin to return to their normal routines we’ve seen a disconnect between supply and demand, and many are worried that price increases are here to stay. Alfonzo Bruno, associate portfolio manager, shares insights around the current state of inflation, how to interpret updated guidance from the Fed, and how he anticipates inflation pressures around supply chains to ease in a post-pandemic market.
Episode 81

Other than the strong recovery this year, the energy sector has been avoided by many investors. Whether environmental concerns of an increasing number of ESG-focused investors or worries about the secular decline in oil revenues as the world transitions to renewal energy sources, energy stocks have been among the least popular investments out there. Philip Straehl, global head of research at Morningstar Investment Management, welcomes James Foot, Head of Research, Asia Pacific from Morningstar Investment Management Australia, to dive deep into why they think certain energy stocks may offer attractive long-term returns.
Episode 80

Our Select Equity portfolio managers share five key takeaways from the 2021 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. Portfolio specialist Jeff Wagner sits down with Mike Corty, Morningstar Investment Management’s Head of our Select Equity Portfolios team and the portfolio manager of our Tortoise portfolio, as well as senior portfolio manager John Owens, who manages Select Equity portfolios, All-Cap Equity and Small/Mid-Cap Equity.
Episode 79

After the late-2020 rally continued into 2021, Philip Straehl and Edward Fane assess the aggregate reward-for-risk picture in world markets and share their views on select asset class opportunities. Philip is the Chicago-based global head of research at Morningstar Investment Management LLC. Ed, based in London, is head of research for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Morningstar Investment Management Europe, Ltd., which is an FCA-regulated firm.
Episode 78

Merger and acquisition activity in wealth management is on the rise, with 2020 seeing about 18% more deals--and about 8 times greater deal value-- than the 10-year average, according to Dealogic. What’s driving this consolidation, and how might it affect advisors’ ability to continue to provide personalized service to every client? Marta Norton, chief investment officer for the Americas at Morningstar Investment Management, shares her views on the pressure to consolidate, its impacts on personalization, as well as some advice on using technology to personalize portfolios for clients.

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