The Alchemist - When does a strategy become a bubble?

As information moves faster, and advisers and product providers identify market trends more quickly, investors have to be quick to catch the nano-second before an exciting opportunity and considered strategy becomes a bubble.

The idea China was leading the world into the new century was just settling in, with a string of new fund launches and meaningful research coming out of a region it was difficult for non-locals to get a handle on. It all stacked up well – economic growth, demographics and the gap between demand, management and investment expertise. Investors piled in, buying up anything you might be able to sell several million of in China – from tons of grain or steel, to bicycles or white goods. Yet no sooner had that impetus got going than another wave of analysis was released warning of that old haza...