> I had an Econ professor who insisted individual stock picking is a fool's errand, and he had some pretty compelling evidence to back it up.
What does your Prof say about Warren Buffett.
What does your Prof say about Warren Buffett.
There's also the argument for diversification - investors holding large fractions of their portfolio in one security expose themselves to the operational risks of the company. By holding a broad variety of stocks, you'd expect their "lumps and bumps" to even out on average so you are only exposed to the overall market risk (i.e. hold airline stocks? Offset that with some oil stocks. And those with solar. etc.).
Nvest looks cool, but also seductively simple for the casual observer. It helps pick individual stocks, not necessarily build a balanced portfolio.
> some will by chance do well.
Buffet's performance could be due to being skilled, or the reason we're talking about Buffet instead of someone else could just be survivor bias.
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/null?&exclusive=filemgr.downloa...