Financial Accounting and Equity Markets

Sharemarket Efficiency And The Experts: Some Australian Findings

by

Philip Brown

Terry Walter^*

Abstract:

This paper analyses the investment performance of 625 investment recommendations made by practitioners attending five Australian courses on portfolio management held between 1973 and 1979. It was found that course participants consistently out-performed the market, on a risk-adjusted basis. Their success was not due to picking winners to buy, but to nominating losers to sell.

Keywords:

EFFICIENT MARKET HYPOTHESIS; INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE; SHARE GAME; STRONG FORM EFFICIENCY

Introduction

From 1973 to 1979, five one-week courses ol modern portfolio theory were held at Macquarie University and the Australian Graduate School of Management. This ...