Blogs by Philippe De Brouwer

Today, with Wikipedia and Google in our pockets, we no longer need to remember all historical details, but we need to have an opinion and the willingness to learn. Every movie-maker, every game designer, every author seems to have a political motivation and sitting back and enjoying is no...

The library {shiny} provides the tools to build interactive html-apps from your data project. It is the ideal way for users to experiment with the data and gain deeper insights than what one can expect from a static report.

You might know my Covid-19...

Maybe you have read my latest book about data science or you have seen my courses about data science on my YouTube Channel, and it appeals to you to become a data scientist yourself. Then...

The Start of My Youtube Channel

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 » Tags:

Dear Reader,

I started a Youtube channel, where I will post in the first place information about my newest book (eventually a series of trainings).

Visit the channel here.

Enjoy! Philippe

Working from Home on Steroids

Thursday, March 19, 2020 » Tags:

Today we face a novel virus, SARS-COV-2, and the disease that it causes, Covid-19, spreads fast around the globe. Most countries decide prioritize people’s lives over economic welfare and decide to enforce some form of social distancing to slow down the spreading of the virus. This...

You are maintaining a website for your business or club? You need a little more than a simple html page but you don’t need all the functionalities of a CMS such as Drupal or Joomla? Or you’re fed up with the vulnerabilities of most CMSs? If your website does not require exensive...

Before answering that question it is probably wise to draw the attention to two little known facts that will help to understand what we’re actually talking about:

  1. The European asset management market is dominated by institutional investors: roughly 75% of all assets are...

It is said that the typical person of our times consumes in one day as much information as a typical person in the Middle Ages would digest in his/her whole life. And this is only the visible top of the iceberg: the information that we see and get. But beneath the surface of these calm waters...

Recently I did for my employer a workshop on Teamwork and Leadership. I loved every second of it and so did the participants. The feedback was very encouraging.

Druring my carreer I’m in a people managers role for about 20 years now with many C-level function in different...

Finally, I finished my PhD. While it was an enjoyable process and I really learned a lot on the way, it felt like ages. I wanted so much to finish the Ph.D. before my second child was born. Now he is almost a year old. A big thank you to my wife, Joanna, for all the support and my gratitude...

The Belgian national financial newspaper, De Tijd, published on 3 Feb 2012 an interview with me in which the...

The core idea of Maslowian Portfolio Theory explained very short and simple.

Much research has been devoted to a better understanding of financial markets. Much less studies are available about how to adapt an investment portfolio to the needs of a person.

Actually,...

In this very short paper, I try to summarize the importance of coherent risk measures using clear examples.

The paper should be readable for everyone, and more in particular should be a pleasure to read for people who do not like mathematics that much … and btw, it is only four...

Niels Bohr once said that if all humanity would be lost and we were to pass only one sentence to the next generation that we should pass the information that matter is composed of atoms. Now humanity has built up almost hundred years more history, and with that hindsight I would prefer...

Replace Text in Multiple Files

Thursday, September 01, 2011 » Tags:

Did you ever change your mind and want to change the name of one variable in your complete code base? Or change a name in all documents? You want to change one string with another in all files in a certain directory.

Linux gives you the right tools. There are multiple...

When Poland in 1999 reformed its pension system it displayed –despite some important mistakes that we will elaborate further– not only a courageous vision, but created a system that is inherently healthy and was an important investment in all the future generations. Pensions were...

Complicated Investment Products

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I believe that by now I have accumulated some experience after 15 building business and recently finishing my PhD. However some things continue to surprise me. The recent crackdown on so called complicated products—on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I still have difficulties to...

This paper aims to present concrete recommendations to individual investors and in- vestment advisers about what portfolios should be held by private persons and how to construct these portfolios. Starting from the theoretical foundations that are based on the “Hierarchy of Human Needs” (as...

Polish Politics

Sunday, March 06, 2011 » Tags:

I spent almost a decade in Poland, and live the last two years in Dublin, one of Europe’s financial centres. This allows me almost the viewpoint from an outsider on Poland. Poland is both a cherished example in Europe and an economy that worries its European partners.
Poland was...

“The tax payer has been funding the banks more than enough! No more money for banks! Make the rich pay!” It’s en euphemism to state that similar points of view are the common denominator in the press that reports on the dramas since the Global Meltdown in 2008.
There are a few problems...

Lessons from 2009 for Poland

Thursday, December 30, 2010 » Tags:

Poland was the ONLY country in the EU to avoid recession in 2009. In 2010 we expect again the record level in Europe (around 2% GDP growth). How was such an economic top performance possible?

Probably the most important aspect was that Poland had a relative low debt ratio (about 50%...

In our economic system it is essential to take responsibility for your own financial well being. Where under certain protective economic systems the state will care for the individual to a large extend, these systems tend to come with loads of disadvantages. We’re all happy to live in a...

High Frequency Trading

Saturday, October 23, 2010 » Tags:

In the wake of their public face off in 2008 where during 6 hours and 45 minutes they were unable to consolidate any trades, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced that will upgrade it’s .NET TradeElect (Windows based) systems to the (MilleniumIT Linux) based platform. Following...

Looking for safe investments? Government bonds!

But is that really so? And if not, what tools do we have to assess and compare the risks? Is there an issue with Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain (the “GIIPS countries”)?

First of all there are the rating agencies. They...

This paper aims to present a risk classification that can be used for all investment funds and that is close to what the investor perceives as “risk”. The method further tries to use as few arbitrary parameters as possible and the assumptions are limit to the maximal extend. We...