Operating an investment portfolio today is like running a nuclear power plant, asserts Bernstein’s Inigo Fraser-Jenkins. The systems being managed are complex and “tightly coupled,” with “normal accidents” being part of the complex systems and process. The question is, when the inevitable “mistake” occurs in the form of a market crash, is it an operator or system error? [timeless] Complex systems in a highly interconnected setting are likely to experience “normal accidents” The most infamous nuclear accident in the US was the Three Mile Island incident. Considered the worst US nuclear incident, there was no actual loss of life and…
How Managing Money Is Like Managing Little Boy
Mark Melin
Mark Melin is an alternative investment practitioner whose specialty is recognizing the impact of beta market environment on a technical trading strategy. A portfolio and industry consultant, wrote or edited three books including High Performance Managed Futures (Wiley 2010) and The Chicago Board of Trade’s Handbook of Futures and Options (McGraw-Hill 2008) and taught a course at Northwestern University's executive education program.