Bob Anslow
Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Chief Investment Officer
Portfolio management at GlobeFlex has evolved into an adaptable process that is ready to address radically different market environments. We've learned to embrace reform while preserving our strengths. We know that just because a process has worked and you've benefited from it, you've got to challenge everything that you're doing today and do that again tomorrow, and again the next day and again the day after that - to keep challenging the embedded process and be open to thoroughly researched enhancements, if warranted.
Knowing is one thing; having the wherewithal is another. As a research-driven firm, we emphasize upgrading skill through finding good people and efficiency via a faster technology platform to speed up our ability to dissect portfolios and analyze attribution.
And the investment effort is not just seven people. We leverage skill by having a constant press of specialist data vendors working on specific projects. One night I totaled up the people who for sure were working on GlobeFlex projects the majority of that day and it was 27.
At GlobeFlex we stay alert to unintended bets to minimize risk, and are adaptable to enhancing our portfolio construction. We increased the efficacy of our stock selection through creating sector-specific models and also tightened portfolio construction. The modifications on the alpha side weren't just to pull in better short-term performance (although during the recent speculative market environment, better short-term performance would have been welcome); rather, we were upgrading our skill level for the long term.
Technology here is simply a tool to create more time for the human thought process. So as we increased the efficacy of our systems, we also added intellectual capital in the form of a "virtual" investment team: Bob Olson, a great portfolio management theorist and tenacious researcher; and John Philson, a database expert who isolates the most pertinent nuggets from our vast customized databases. These talented, independent people make a serious commitment to GlobeFlex projects, ensure that our testing mimics reality and play instrumental roles as we test and enhance the validity of our disciplines.
They link up daily with GlobeFlex colleagues, tools and customized databases, but are insulated geographically from the demands of portfolio management. And they aren't influenced by the comfortable groupthink that can often take hold in a close-knit, cohesive culture like GlobeFlex, especially after a period of success.
We'll always be fundamental stockpickers. We'll always be systematic in our approach. And we'll always be a focused, active, research-oriented manager. But we also will always be flexible, because markets are never going to be so stable that you can figure it out once and for all. Your process has to be constantly evolutionary.
Knowing is one thing; having the wherewithal is another. As a research-driven firm, we emphasize upgrading skill through finding good people and efficiency via a faster technology platform to speed up our ability to dissect portfolios and analyze attribution.
And the investment effort is not just seven people. We leverage skill by having a constant press of specialist data vendors working on specific projects. One night I totaled up the people who for sure were working on GlobeFlex projects the majority of that day and it was 27.
At GlobeFlex we stay alert to unintended bets to minimize risk, and are adaptable to enhancing our portfolio construction. We increased the efficacy of our stock selection through creating sector-specific models and also tightened portfolio construction. The modifications on the alpha side weren't just to pull in better short-term performance (although during the recent speculative market environment, better short-term performance would have been welcome); rather, we were upgrading our skill level for the long term.
Technology here is simply a tool to create more time for the human thought process. So as we increased the efficacy of our systems, we also added intellectual capital in the form of a "virtual" investment team: Bob Olson, a great portfolio management theorist and tenacious researcher; and John Philson, a database expert who isolates the most pertinent nuggets from our vast customized databases. These talented, independent people make a serious commitment to GlobeFlex projects, ensure that our testing mimics reality and play instrumental roles as we test and enhance the validity of our disciplines.
They link up daily with GlobeFlex colleagues, tools and customized databases, but are insulated geographically from the demands of portfolio management. And they aren't influenced by the comfortable groupthink that can often take hold in a close-knit, cohesive culture like GlobeFlex, especially after a period of success.
We'll always be fundamental stockpickers. We'll always be systematic in our approach. And we'll always be a focused, active, research-oriented manager. But we also will always be flexible, because markets are never going to be so stable that you can figure it out once and for all. Your process has to be constantly evolutionary.