"In fact, the nation's biggest investment pools are the retirement funds of the large corporations and governmental bodies, such as the California Public Employees Retirement System , which manages an astounding $170 billion. These plans receive a level of professional management that even the nations wealthiest investors can only dream of."

William J. Bernstein Business See all quotes by William J. Bernstein →

React to this quote

More by William J. Bernstein

“Investing is not a destination. It is an ongoing journey through its four continents - theory, history, psychology and business.”

“The worst possible time to invest is when the skies are the clearest.”

“It is one thing to coolly design a portfolio strategy on a sheet of paper or computer monitor, and quite another to actually deploy it.”

“Value stock returns are impossible to estimate using the traditional methods, because most of the excessive return arises from the slow improvement in valuations that occurs as doggy stocks become less doggy over time.”

“The Gordon Equation is as close as being a physical law, like gravitation or planetary motion, as we will ever encounter in finance.”

“When the barbarians are at the gates, interest rates rise and bond prices fall precipitously.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The nation which is satisfied is lost. The nation which is not progressive is retrograding. "Rest and be thankful" is a motto which spells decay. The new world seems to possess more of this quality in…"

— Archibald Primrose

1809–1851

#change

"In this life we never behold the true state of our interior: our attention is engaged by the few serious sentiments with which we are occasionally animated; and the judgment which we form of ourselves…"

— Jean Baptiste Massillon

Religion1663–1742

#life

"The shortcoming thus acknowledged to attach to the content turns out at the same time to be a shortcoming in respect of form. Spinoza puts substance at the head of his system, and defines it to be the…"

— Baruch Spinoza

Philosophy1632–1677

#knowledge

"It's just not sexy. It doesn't matter how cute the girl is… When I kiss somebody in life, I decide to kiss somebody in life. But when someone says "Do it, or…" And when you're kissing somebody, the wo…"

— James Marsters

Music1962

#life