Better Than Alpha: Three Steps to Capturing Excess Returns in a Changing World

A powerful new approach for giving up the ghost of alpha―and building an investing portfolio that meets your objectives

The concept of beating markets is just a lot of hype. Successful investors don’t find “alpha,” they find value―and that’s what this book helps you do. 

Better Than Alpha provides the perspective, insights, and tools you need to retrain your focus away from searching for alpha and toward actions that produce superior investment outcomes. 

Chris Schelling explains why strategies based on “beating the markets” are doomed to failure and provides a simple three-step framework for making better investment decisions: Behavior (smart thinking), Process (smart habits), Organization (smart governance). He explains why the search for alpha is destined to fail, the major role behavioral finance plays in so much wasted time, effort, and money, and, most important, how to avoid common mistakes and maximize your efforts. 

You’ll gain a deeper understanding of what drives investment returns, how superstar investment managers generated excess returns in the past, and why strategies that worked in the past don’t necessarily make sense today.

Whether you’re responsible for generating revenue streams for pensions, endowments, or foundations; mitigating insurance losses; serving as an investment consultant; or any other institutional-level investing, Better Than Alpha walks you through the process of minimizing the impacts of behavioral biases and making decisions that create a higher probability of meeting your objectives―whatever they may be.

Christopher M. Schelling runs Windmuehle Funds, an investment firm located in Austin. Previously, he was Director of Private Equity investing for the Texas Municipal Retirement System. He also worked as Deputy CIO and Director of Absolute Returns at the Kentucky Retirement Systems.