Author: MI Research Team

Here at Model Investing, we’re constantly trying to innovate to ensure that we deliver the best performance possible for our clients. Over the past couple of years, we’ve been working to refine and enhance our suite of Investment Models, and today we’re proud to announce the upcoming release of new versions of each of our models.

In a previous article, we took a look at the business cycle to understand how the natural ebb and flow of our economy impacts things like asset prices, wages and interest rates. In this article, we'll dive deeper into what exactly causes those dreaded periods we call recessions.

In the quest to become a savvy investor, one of the most important concepts you must understand is that of the business cycle. This periodic ebb and flow of our economy exerts tremendous influence not just on asset prices, but on everything from interest rates to the availability of jobs. Since nearly every aspect of your financial life will be influenced in some way by the business cycle, it pays to have a basic conceptual understanding.

Whether we like it or not, the value of our portfolios depends heavily on the behavior of financial markets, which, in turn, are intertwined with the economy. Therefore, how and where we invest are dictated in large part by our expectations of future economic growth. As the U.S. and other G7 economies slow, it's going to permanently change the investment landscape.

In last month's article, we addressed the topic of active vs. passive management. Specifically, we provided clear and comprehensive evidence that active management is never a prudent decision. Today, we'd like to elaborate on this topic by relaying the story of a famous bet made by the greatest investor of all time - Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett shares our perspective on this issue, and in typical fashion, made a large wager to prove his point.