Portfolio Management - Astute Investor's Calculus

Market Anomalies That Persist: Why Value, Size, and Low Volatility Still Work

Leave a Comment / Factor Investing / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / May 6, 2026

The efficient market hypothesis holds that all available information is already reflected in stock prices, making it impossible to consistently beat the market through fundamental analysis. It is an elegant theory. It is also, as decades of empirical evidence now demonstrate, substantially incomplete. Certain return patterns called anomalies because they should not exist in a […]

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The William Bernstein 5/25 Rule: The Simple Rebalancing System That Protects You from Yourself

Leave a Comment / Portfolio Management / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / November 1, 2025

It’s easy to let a portfolio drift. Stocks rise, bonds fall, and before you know it, your carefully planned allocation quietly morphs into something riskier than you ever intended. Most investors don’t notice until the next bear market hits.This is where William Bernstein’s 5/25 Rule steps in. it is a remarkably simple framework designed to

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Martingale vs Anti-Martingale Strategies: The Real Math Behind Risk, Reward, and the Value Investor’s Edge

Leave a Comment / Managing Risk / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / October 7, 2025

You’ve heard it before: “cut your losses and let your winners run.” But most investors can’t explain why that rule works. Beneath it lies a deeper logic, born from probability theory and refined by gamblers, traders, and long-term value investors alike. In this article I talk about two competing philosophies, Martingale and Anti-Martingale, and then

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When Rebalancing Makes You Richer: The Rebalancing Bonus Explained

Leave a Comment / Portfolio Management / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / June 13, 2025

You’re told to rebalance your portfolio to manage risk. Keep that 60/40 allocation. Sleep better at night. But that’s just the surface. What most investors miss is that rebalancing doesn’t just reduce risk. Done right, it can increase returns. Yes, rebalancing your investment portfolio can actually make you richer. The secret lies in something few

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How to Build Portfolio Resilience When Macro Shocks Destroy Valuations

Leave a Comment / Managing Risk / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / June 2, 2025

Intrinsic value is not enough in a world of macro uncertainty You can do everything right as a value investor. Buy below intrinsic value. Demand a margin of safety. Stick to your thesis. And still, your portfolio can suffer when inflation spikes, interest rates lurch, or trade wars disrupt entire sectors. The truth is, intrinsic

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How to Build a Factor Based Portfolio That Outperforms in Every Market Cycle

Leave a Comment / Factor Investing / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / May 24, 2025

The market may be irrational, but your portfolio doesn’t have to be. Most investors are just hoping for the best in every market cycle. You, on the other hand, can engineer a portfolio that adapts, hedges, and outperforms. This article shows you how to build a dynamic, globally diversified factor-based portfolio, using real ETFs like

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The Kelly Criterion Isn’t Just for Gamblers. It’s for Serious Value Investors

Leave a Comment / Portfolio Management / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / May 14, 2025

Most investors think the Kelly Criterion belongs on the blackjack table or in some Ivy League quant’s toolkit. They assume it’s a mathematical toy, not something a grounded, long-term value investor should take seriously. That’s a mistake. Because when used correctly, Kelly sizing can sharpen your capital allocation like a scalpel. In my own small-cap

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The 5 Alternative Asset Classes That Could Outperform the S&P 500 This Decade

Leave a Comment / Alternative Investing / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / May 6, 2025

Investors Are Quietly Stepping Off the Beaten Path You’re not imagining it. Traditional 60/40 portfolios are underperforming, and the S&P 500 is increasingly top-heavy with a handful of mega-cap stocks masking broader market fragility. As inflation proves sticky, interest rates remain elevated, and geopolitical tensions disrupt global trade, the case for alternative asset classes has

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Kelly Criterion Position Sizing: Avoid the Trap of Overbetting and Underbetting

Leave a Comment / Managing Risk / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / May 5, 2025

You already know that your edge comes from buying undervalued stocks and letting them work over time. But even with a sound process and solid research, you keep second-guessing your trades. You hesitate when it’s time to enter. You trim winners too early. You panic when a position dips. The problem isn’t your strategy, it’s

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The Dirty Little Secret Behind Most Factor ETFs (And What You Should Do Instead)

Leave a Comment / Factor Investing / Shailesh Kumar, MBA / April 27, 2025

Why You Should Be Wary of Factor ETFs? You already know that factors like value, momentum, quality, and low volatility have a long track record of outperformance. That’s why the explosion of “factor ETFs” looks so tempting on the surface. But here’s the dirty little secret Wall Street doesn’t advertise: most factor ETFs dilute your

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