MiB: Meir Statman on the Intersection of Finance & Life

VaselineAugust 9, 2024

0 1 minute read

This week, we speak with Meir Statman, the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University. Named one of the 25 most influential people by Investment Advisor, his breakthrough book, “What Investors Really Want,” changed how we view investor motivations. Statman is a member of the advisory board of the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Wealth Management, the Journal of Retirement, the Journal of Investment Consulting and the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance. His new book is “A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance.”

We discuss the data on “social capital,” the correlation between the time people spend with friends and families versus the time they spend working, and its impact on overall happiness and life satisfaction. Statman believes Financial Advisers should also serve their clients as “Well-Being Advisers.” (PDF)

He agrees with Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton that a college degree may be the single most important dividing line in terms of lifetime wealth, happiness, well-being, and health.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Michael Green, Chief Strategist of Simplify Asset Management; the firm manages 28 funds with ~$4.1B AUM. Green has worked with numerous hedge funds, and is credited with identifying the structural issues behind the “Volmageddon” trade. He is a vociferous critic of passive indexing, claiming it negatively impacts price discovery, and raises the risk of increased volatility and market crashes.