"The truth is, history can be one of our greatest aids, in investing as in life."
- Howard Marks
"The four most dangerous words in investing are, its different this time."
- Sir John Templeton
Most people accept that history is important and a knowledge of history is crucial to understanding the present and preparing for the future. In investing, a study of history provides crucial insights into market and investor behaviour. However, to a large extent, studying this history has only been of interest to market experts who have used it to guide their investment decisions.
With both quality and quantum of data increasing with time, it was inescapable that the role of data in investment decision making would only grow. However, the exponential growth of computing power over the last couple of decades super-powered this transformation.
Factor based investing, which relies on conducting increasingly complex analysis of ever growing amounts of data, is driven by this fortunate confluence of data and analytical capabilities.
This book tries to take you through the contours of how this came to be and where we see it headed.
