Diversification is often spoken of as the only free lunch in investing, yet we show that it is not free and is properly considered only in light of its costs. More-exotic asset classes typically come with a higher price tag. We show that fees on diversifying asset classes are high relative to...

Despite ever more sophisticated risk management and measurement, investment professionals have generally overlooked a simple but powerful metric of relative risk and portfolio diversification -- the normal return gap. We develop a generalized specification of the expected difference in returns...

I examine energy stocks in the context of a diversified investment portfolio. Several factors – the importance of the energy sector, their potential to hedge energy risks, growing interest in real assets, as well as anecdotes of sophisticated investors focusing on energy investments –...