For our more technical audience this article is a “must read.” Comments from Matt Hall are featured throughout, including this response: “The alternative to what we do is guesswork,” Hall says. “What we’re trying to do is the opposite: have clear expectations, academic evidence, and strong performance over a long period of time. If you can do that, you can sleep well knowing you’ve given people the strongest odds for success.” Morningstar subscribers can click here for the full article.

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On August 16th, about forty-five Anheuser-Busch executives heard Rex Sinquefield, co-founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors and one of the creators of the first index fund, present evidence from an important study conducted in the United States and Great Britain. Not surprisingly, the study reveals the dismal performance of active fund managers in both countries. Rex went on to explain how one can build a portfolio that captures better than market returns by adding small and value stocks to increase the expected return and lower the standard deviation.

Anheuser-Busch is just one of a growing number of corporations who have switched to a passive investment philosophy in their pension and 401(k) programs. When faced with the data presented by academic studies as discussed in this presentation, more executives are beginning to understand how capital markets really work.