Welcome to the Skeptic’s Guide to Investment Management. In each episode, we examine one industry publication through a skeptical, logical, evidence-based lens, with the help of Tim McGlinn, ex-investment consultant, portfolio manager and professor of finance, and founder of the TheAltView.

We discuss a 2025 Mercer report claiming that adding a 20% allocation to private investments (venture capital, private equity, real estate, etc.) could boost target-date fund expected returns by 1% (7.1% vs. 6.1%). The catch: Mercer assumes public markets earn plain market returns, while private assets magically get “above-average manager” performance forever—because everyone’s an above-average driver. Tim also highlights Mercer’s conflict of interest as a consultant that sponsors private equity funds, plus ERISA’s heavy fiduciary burden on employers, making glossy sales pitches even more problematic.

Key takeaway: we’re not all above average drivers or fund pickers.

Link to Tim’s original article:

TheAltView

SGIM is an Investology podcast series, produced by Orama: https://orama.tv/

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George: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-aliferis/

Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-mcglinn

SGIM is an Investology podcast series, produced by Orama: https://orama.tv/

MUSIC CREDITS

Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303

Artist: http://incompetech.com/