Rob Arnott is the Chairman of Research Affiliates, a global leader in innovative investing and asset allocation strategies. The firm manages and licenses over $30 billion. Rob sub advises the Pimco All Asset Fund and also sub advises mutual funds and ETFs for the Schwab Funds, Powershares and Nomura. Research Affiliates did the original research on fundamental indexing and Rob is the author of "The Fundamental Index" (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). He is a former editor of the Financial Analysts Journal.
Rob gives clues to institutions and investors on how to maximize portfolio rebalancing offering sage advice on how to buy when others are panicking and sell into strength He also covers the economy, the Fed bailouts as well as inflation and the role of gold and commodities in a portfolio going forward in this interview.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Rob Arnott
ROBERT ARNOTT - Research Affiliates (rallc.com)
Chairman, Founder
As a second-grader, Robert Arnott calculated the earth’s curvature at eight inches per mile-squared. As a third-grader, he gave his class weekly lectures on the nine planets. On his 10th birthday, he wanted to put the $7.50 his grandma sent him into the stock market. In college, he tried to hide his geekiness under very long hair, suede bell-bottoms, and a Guatemalan shirt embroidered with a Quetzal bird. The shirt and bell-bottoms no longer fit, and much of the hair is gone. But the geekiness remains, as does his fondness for exotic motorcycles. As does the willingness to challenge conventional thinking.
His success in doing so has resulted in a reputation as one of the world’s most provocative and respected financial analysts.
Several unconventional portfolio strategies now in wide application figure among Rob Arnott’s pioneering innovations: tactical asset allocation, global tactical asset allocation, tax-advantaged equity management, and fundamental indexation, among others.
An intrepid entrepreneur, Rob has built and led three major asset management firms, serving along the way as equity strategist for Salomon Brothers. He established Research Affiliates in 2002 as a research-intensive asset management firm, focused on building cutting-edge new products, and bringing them to the marketplace through affiliations wherever possible. With a product menu ranging between sub-advisory services, asset management products, and software models, Research Affiliates sub-advises the first global asset allocation product to actively tap alternative markets beyond conventional stocks and bonds.
A widely published financial thinker, Rob has been a frequent contributor to leading financial journals and books. He has served as editor of the Financial Analysts Journal, and has published more than 100 articles in the FAJ, the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Harvard Business Review, and other respected journals. He is co-author of The Fundamental Index: A Better Way to Invest (Wiley 2008). Rob lectures frequently, has served as a visiting professor of finance at UCLA, and has served on the product advisory board of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and two other exchanges.
In recognition of his achievements as a writer, Rob has received five Graham and Dodd Scrolls and Awards, awarded annually by CFA Institute for best articles of the year, and declined a sixth award during his tenure as editor. He also received two Bernstein-Fabozzi/Jacobs-Levy awards from the Journal of Portfolio Management and Institutional Investor magazine.
Rob is the former chairman of First Quadrant, LP, where he developed quantitative asset management products. He also served as global equity strategist at Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup), the president of TSA Capital Management (now part of Analytic), and as a vice president at The Boston Company (now PanAgora).
Rob Arnott graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in economics, applied mathematics, and computer science in 1977. He resides in Corona del Mar, California, where he still motorcycles most weekends.
