This Month's Issue: Key Points

This month's feature article explores in depth a conversation we have had quite often (and with too little data) in recent years. How do Anglosphere countries (which we define as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) compare along multiple criteria that are relevant to future returns on real return bonds, nominal government bonds, and equities? We found it a fun article to research, and we guarantee that after reading it you’ll never sound the same at a cocktail party again. Bottom line: We're a lot more excited about the medium term prospects for Australia and Canada than we are about those for New Zealand and the U.K., with Ireland and the U.S. falling somewhere in between.

This month's first product and strategy note look at new ETF products. The Barclays iPath Currency Carry ETF (ICI) is a new competitor for DBV; the Rydex Alternative Strategies Allocation Fund gives you the opportunity to pay a high price for something you could do on your own at a much lower cost. The new State Street non-U.S. Dollar inflation indexed bond ETF (WIP) is an intriguing product, but not as a substitute for an allocation to domestic real return bonds. Rather, it might be used to implement an allocation to foreign currency bonds, provided you have a taste for emerging market bonds (which we do not). Finally, we give three cheers to Barclays for launching ACWI, which tracks the Morgan Stanley All Country World Index - for investors just starting out and wanting "one stop" diversification across the world's equity markets, there's no better product on the market today.

| Investing in the Anglosphere: Who is the Fairest of Them All? | This Month's Letters to the Editor: Legg Mason's Bill Miller and How Do We Treat Inflation in Our Portfolios? | Global Asset Class Returns | Asset Class Valuation Update | This Month's Issue: Key Points | Product and Strategy Notes: New Products ICI, DBV, RYFOX, WIP, and WCWI; More Criticism of Private Equity and Search for Alpha |