Alexis Glick
Alexis Glick
Alexis Glick is Vice President of Business News and an anchor of Money for Breakfast.
Prior to joining FOX, Glick served as a correspondent for the Today Show and co-anchored the third hour of that program. Before her stint at NBC News, she was the senior trading correspondent for CNBC and reported from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, providing live daily updates for Squawk Box. While at CNBC, Glick also contributed to Street Signs and Closing Bell.
Earlier in her career, Glick was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley where she headed the New York Stock Exchange Floor Operations. A member of the New York Stock Exchange since 2002, she was the first and youngest woman to manage such an operation for a bulge bracket firm, and served as one of its top producers on the Listed Equity Trading Desk. She began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the equities division.
Glick is a graduate of Columbia University, where she now serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the College Alumni Association.
What was your first job?
My first job out of college was at Goldman. I was hired into the two-year analyst program, but I guess you could say I was a guinea pig. I was one of the first non-MBA's hired onto the Equity Sales Trading desk. What does that mean? We talked to the portfolio and hedge fund managers who were responsible for purchasing large blocks of stocks in the marketplace. It was about as big pressure cooker as you could imagine. As Wall Street insiders could attest..."No great idea is successful if you can't execute it in the marketplace." That was my job and that happened to involve trading hundreds of millions of dollars daily.
Are you a spender or a saver?
I'm a spender, but I'm smart about my money, too. I wish I could say that I was a better saver but I think I choose to live in the moment. As my dad says, "You never know when it will be your last." Most of my money is invested up in real estate. I bought my first home at 24 years old and several homes later, it's proven to be my best investment. (Other than my husband and my three boys.)
What was the one thing you regret buying?
No regrets! Every choice good or bad teaches you something about yourself. Mistakes are worth taking. Life without risk is not an option for me. Follow your passion, do what you think is right and trust your gut. Dream with your eyes open!
What was your biggest money indulgence?
My honeymoon in South Africa. It may have been more expensive than the wedding itself but boy was it worth it! I can't wait to go back.
What was the best money advice you received?
When buying real estate, never look at what's inside the four walls. Buy first and foremost for location, location, location. See potential. Don't be afraid to knock it down and rebuild. Know what it could be with the right direction. Two tear downs and four homes later, I still believe this is where you can get the greatest return on investment.
FOX Translator
No data currently available.
No data currently available.
A popular Wendy's commercial in the 80s made famous the question: "Where's the beef?" Good one. And here's an even better one: "Where's the alpha?" You might want to whip this one out the next time you meet with your portfolio manager.
Alpha is the over-and-above-the-expected return. It is the "value added." Therefore, it makes sense that a positive alpha means an investment has outperformed its market-predicted return, while a negative alpha would mean just the opposite. The expected return is calculated by a formula that takes into account the investment's level of unavoidable risk (aka beta).
Ever stepped into an elevator and after the doors close you become aware of an almost-suffocating scent coming from the woman next to you who must have bathed in perfume? Well, as you know, once the doors close you can't escape the smell until the ride is over. This is similar to beta, which is risk that can't be reduced or diversified away. A measure of "systematic" or market related risk, beta is used as a measure relative to a certain index -- such as the S&P 500.
So, for example, let¿s say your portfolio is managed to compete against the S&P 500. If you generate a better return than the index while not taking on added risk (standard deviation of returns) then you get alpha. Low beta means the market-related risk is low and vice versa for high beta.
Another example, let's say a mutual fund or stock has a beta of 1.5 relative to the S& P500 ¿ that means it is 1.5
times as risky. So, over time, if the S&P 500 goes up 1%, your portfolio should be up 1.5% plus (one can hope) some percentage
of alpha. If the S&P 500 is down 1%, your portfolio should be down 1.5%.
Alpha and beta are based off of linear regression of a set of data. Warning: this may cause a high school fifth-period flashback,
but it will be over before you know it:
The equation for a line is Y = a + bX.
a = alpha (the Y intercept - the added value)
b = Beta (the coefficient you multiply X by)
X = S&P 500 (in this case)
Y = your portfolio
