Covisum Blog

By Ron Piccinini, Ph.D., Director of Product Development An investment’s failure or success is impacted by the worst and best trading days — more than you might imagine. Understand the true value of “tails.” Investors know that time in the market is their friend. Stay in the market for a long period of time, and good things will happen, even in times of high volatility. A supporting statistic is often presented: if you miss the best days, your overall return will be dramatically lower.

Asset interaction. Drawdown analysis. Reward/risk ratio. Know the terms that will help you wow clients with SmartRisk™. SmartRisk™ doesn’t just deliver better risk estimation for your clients’ portfolios. It delivers it in a way that is easy for both you and your client to understand. Learning just a few terms used in the software and its easy-to-read reports will help you interpret the calculations and explain them to clients — not just so they understand, but so they understand in a context that truly resonates with them, influencing their behavior.

By Ron Piccinini, PhD This is inspired by a true story. There was this fellow named Edmund. Edmund's high-priced education had taught him the virtues of portfolio diversification. His job as a banker paid him a nice sum of cash every month, plus bonus; he had bought a house, and his retirement account was comprised of a diversified mix of domestic and international stocks. On his office wall was hanging this quote from the Merchant of Venice: "My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, nor to one place; nor is my whole estate upon the fortune of this present year." To the annoying Head of Risk he used to explain: "The five-year correlation between real estate and stocks is seven percent. And the correlation between my monthly paycheck and the stock market is even lower. Low correlation, diversification!"