Professor Elroy Dimson is well known in financial circles for producing the Investment Year Book, in association with Professor Marsh and Dr Staunton from the London Business School. He described why the Book was begun 20 years ago to provide a broader and deeper data set to analyse investment issues. This has allowed him and his colleagues to analyse a variety of financial topics often leading to conclusions which are different to the widely accepted consensus view. He explained his findings on three specific areas, the relationship between economic growth and inflation and stock market returns, and the role of emerging markets in a portfolio. The discussion moved onto longer-term issues; Prof Dimson discussed the economic backdrop to the ’world of low numbers’ for future bond and stock market returns which investors need to consider. Certain institutions truly take a long-term view; Prof Dimson described his work for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which he regards as a model for financial investors who wish to be known for transparency and clarity of governance, low management costs, high liquidity, and high standards of ethical behaviour. He also described his analysis of US university endowments, which have been able to develop counter-cyclical approaches to investing. Lastly, Prof Dimson gave some thoughts on the growing interest in Smart Beta approaches involving a variety of investment factors, as well as the problems with using ESG ratings when trying to improve portfolio returns. Click here for a complimentary pdf download of the Summary Edition of the Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2021. Click here for information on how to access the full 260-page hard copy of the Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2021.
Professor Dimson is Professor of Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School where he chairs the Centre for Endowment Asset Management. He also chairs the Advisory and Policy Boards of FTSE Russell, serves on the Review Board of the CFA Institute, and is on the Supervisory Council of the Geneva Finance Research Institute. He is an Emeritus Professor at London Business School. Until 2016 he chaired the Strategy Council of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. He is a Fellow or Honorary Fellow of such bodies as CFA UK, the Institute of Actuaries, and the Royal Historical Society. Lastly, he is the author of a multitude of books and papers, some of which can be found on Google Scholar.
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