Episode 68: Rolf Agather on investment index methodology and innovation, host Rick Ferri

Aswath Damodaran is a Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University,  where he teaches corporate finance and equity valuation. He is known in the investment industry and academia as the Dean of Equity Valuation. Aswath is the author of several widely used academic and practitioner texts on valuation, corporate finance, and investment management, and he maintains a comprehensive database for valuation purposes that can be found on his website.   During this podcast, we will discuss his teaching career, investment philosophy, the equity risk premium in the US and international stocks, index funds, factor investing, and how artificial intelligence is changing the field of finance and changing us.     The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Meir Statman is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara. His research focuses on behavioral finance as he attempts to understand how investors and managers make financial decisions and how these decisions are reflected in financial markets.    Professor Statman’s research has been published in numerous academic and professional journals and has won many awards. His first book, “What Investors Really Want,” was published in 2011. His latest book, “A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance,” is the topic of our discussion in this podcast.    The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Jason Zweig is a well-known personal finance journalist, author, and a long-time friend of the Bogleheads.   Jason became a columnist for The Wall Street Journal in 2008, and before that, he was a senior writer for Money magazine and a guest columnist for Time magazine and Cnn.com. From 1987 to 1995, Jason was the mutual funds editor at Forbes. Earlier, he had been a reporter-researcher for the Economy & Business section of Time and an editorial assistant at Africa Report, a bimonthly journal.   Jason is the author of several books, Your Money and Your Brain, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary, The Little Book of Safe Money, and the editor of two revised editions of Benjamin Graham’s classic text The Intelligent Investor, which is discussed in this podcast.     The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.  

Josh Brown is a well-known author, columnist, creator of the widely read blog The Reformed Broker, a commentator on CNBC, and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, an independent investment advisory firm he founded with Barry Ritholtz. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Josh worked for 10 years as a broker at various investment firms, where he learned the hard truths about how clients are routinely treated—and how their money is sent on a one-way trip to Wall Street’s coffers.   A prolific writer, Josh co-authored two books, How I Invest Money and The Clash of the Financial Pundits, and authored two books, Backstage Wall Street, and just released You Weren’t Supposed to See That, which we discuss in this podcast. Josh stopped blogging as The Reformed Broker in 2023 and now publishes the DowntownJoshBrown.com blog.   The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Christine Benz is the director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar and senior columnist for Morningstar.com. She also co-hosts a podcast for Morningstar, The Long View. Christine is widely quoted in the media and the recipient of several awards, including being named by Barron’s as one of the ten most influential women in wealth management in 2021. She is the author of three books. Her latest, and the focus of this podcast, is How to Retire, 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement.    The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

David Baughier switched seats with host Rick Ferri and interviewed him about many personal finance topics. David is a retired Naval Officer with a passion for helping people pursue and achieve financial independence. He is the founder of www.fiology.com, a free resource that escorts you through 52 concepts of financial independence over the course of one year.   This podcast highlights the first 50 minutes of David's The Forget About Money YouTube video, which we recorded in May 2024. We discussed a diverse set of topics, from John Bogle to asset allocation to the biases in most investment advice. The podcast is David’s latest passion project, and it encourages you to take action today so that you can focus on what matters most to you.   The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many local chapters in the US and even a few foreign chapters that meet regularly, and New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Matt Hougan is the Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, the world's largest provider of cryptocurrency index funds with more than $4 billion in assets under management. Before joining Bitwise, Matt held several notable positions in the financial industry, including CEO at Inside ETFs, Managing Director of Global Finance at Informa, and CEO of ETF.com. Matt also co-authored The CFA Institute's publication on ETFs, "A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds."   Matt is a long-time Boglehead who attended the Bogleheads Conference in years past. I asked him to join me for a no-spin discussion about cyber-currencies. We cover the history of blockchain technology, why cryptology is important to the blockchain, and how this led to Bitcoin, the world's first digital currency, and eventually other digital currencies, including the digital dollar. The discussion is structured as purely educational. There is no sales hype, no recommendations for purchase or sale, and no price speculation.    The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Dr. Wes Gray is the CEO of Alpha Architect. Our topic of discussion for this podcast is exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and their unique tax benefits. Wes is an author, portfolio manager, United States Marine, Iraq War vet, and former professor of finance at Drexel University. He earned an MBA and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Nobel Prize Winner Eugene Fama.   The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

Larry Swedroe is the head of financial and economic research for Buckingham Wealth Partners. A prolific writer who is the author or co-author of 18 books.  His first book, The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need, is in its second edition. Larry's latest book, Enrich Your Future, The Keys to Successful Investing, is the topic of our discussion in this podcast.   The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.

More than 50 percent of mutual fund and ETF assets track passive indices, which makes index methodology important. Episode 68 is all about index history and evolution and how the usage of indexes as investment products changed the industry.    Rolf Agather has been in the indexing industry since the 1980s. He started Russell, moved around the industry a bit, then went back to Russell Investments and in 2002 became the Managing Director, Research and Innovation, Russell Indexes. He remained there after a merger with FTSE and became the FTSE Russell Managing Director, Research, North America. Rolf moved to Morningstar in 2020 as Morningstar’s Head of Research and Product, Indexes.   The Bogleheads on Investing podcast is hosted by Rick Ferri, CFA, a long-time Boglehead and investment adviser. The Bogleheads are a group of like-minded individual investors who follow the general investment and business beliefs of John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. It is a conflict-free community where individual investors reach out and provide education, assistance, and relevant information to other investors of all experience levels at no cost. The organization supports a free forum at Bogleheads.org, and the wiki site is Bogleheads® wiki.    Since 2000, the Bogleheads' have held national conferences in major cities nationwide. There are also many Local Chapters in the US and even a few Foreign Chapters that meet regularly. New Chapters are being added regularly. All Bogleheads activities are coordinated by volunteers who contribute their time and talent.     This podcast is supported by the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy, a non-profit organization approved by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity on February 6, 2012. Your tax-deductible donation to the Bogle Center is appreciated.