Reviews (3)

Proven Way to Sound, Successful, Long-Term Investing
This excellent book is highly commended to anyone who is truly serious about investing. Peter Hupalo is a consultant and frequent columnist on money and entrepreneurship matters. With clear and convincing data to support him, Mr. Hupalo debunks many of the myths Wall Street pushes on the investing public. Author demonstrates the futility of trying to "beat the market", whether through stock picking and market timing or by following mutual funds that have shown high levels of performance in the past. After he makes a convincing case for trying to meet, rather than beat the market. Thus, Mr. Hupalo advocates investing in a diversified basket of mutual funds. The chapter on investing during retirement is particularly insightful.

Whether or not one ultimately agrees with Mr. Hupalo's point of view, "Becoming An Investor: Building Wealth By Investing In Stocks, Bonds, And Mutual Funds" is a book, which deserves attention. Anyone wishing to base his/her investment decisions on solid methodology needs to read this book. You will have a much clearer understanding of markets, and your investment decisions will be firmly rooted in proven soil.

I highly recommend this book for everyone.

Alexander Petrochenkov

A diamond in the rough!
Only available in paperback, no fancy artwork on the cover, no glowing reviews by a big time newspaper publisher, no forward by a prestigious luminary, even the editing is second rate. In a word, this is a rough book.

However, when it comes to content, this book is loaded as the author does not include a lot of fluff or selfish stories about himself. However, the author is obviously very well read, because he includes numerous references to plently of other investing books. Some may conclude it's a value investing book, but growth investing is covered as well.

So, what this book presents is a careful and comprehensive distillation of just about everything commonly available on the subject of investing. Also included are numerous clever stories which illustrate important investment truths and strategies and a recognition that a lot of what the mass media presents is almost worthless for somebody wishing to become an investor.

Make the most of risk-calculated investment
Becoming An Investor: Building Wealth By Investing In Stocks, Bonds, And Mutual Funds is a straightforward primer to the basics of conservative financial investment specifically written for the novice investor seeking to establish a profitable portfolio. From evaluating risks and ratios to diversifying to improve one's margin of safety, just about everything a beginning investor must know is included. For anyone considering putting their money to work for them, Becoming An Investor is urgently recommended, essential reading for participants in today's volatile stock and bond markets in order to help them to make the most of their risk-calculated investment activities. ... Read more

Book Description

Fresh, easy-to-understand insights into maximizing income while lowering risk. Investing for Income demonstrates the convincing reasons that bond funds are the nearly perfect investment. For the millions of investors who dream of earning high returns without subjecting themselves to stock market risks, this is the ideal book.

Using clear, concise language, it demystifies the bond market, from the basics of fixed income investing through more advanced investment strategies, and return and risk analysis. For ease of use, it lists top bond funds by category and covers how to assess a fund's management team and select a fund. It also shows investors how to build a strong bond portfolio that complements stock and stock fund holdings. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

All About Bonds!
I read this book cover to cover and it was an education to say the least. Looking for income strategies, I found a foundation to build off of here.

I also give it a Aaa rating!

A Triple-A Investment!
The best guide to investing in bond funds available anywhere!

Perfect for income investors looking to increase their understanding and income potential.

Strategies are a real eye opener!

Very sound techniques for investing in bonds
Ralph does a terrific job introducing the investor to the sometimes complicated world of bonds and bond mutual funds. For any investor who is looking to round out an equity portfolio with fixed income products, or who wants to invest entirely in bonds, this book is absolutely the best place to start. ... Read more

Book Description

The Morningstar Investment Coach: Finding the Right Funds allows readers to take their first steps in the world of mutual funds with confidence. Filled with informative topics such as how to purchase a fund and how to find a fund’s total return, as well as important fund documents, this guide has been designed to give readers a solid mutual fund investing foundation. ... Read more

Book Description

This authoritative book enables readers to analyze the various performance and risk attributes of mutual funds, while also serving as a comprehensive reference for students, academics, and general investors alike.Providing a balance of theory and application, the chapters combine clear summaries of existing research with practical guidelines for mutual fund analysis.

The chapters cover a broad range of topics, including understanding the advantages and disadvantages of mutual funds and long and short-term investing, evaluating stock/bond allocations within fund portfolios, assessing fund diversification risk, measuring fund returns and risk, and making fund buy/sell decisions.Throughout the text, step-by-step decision checklists guide readers in the analysis and selection of various mutual funds.Treating all the major theoretical issues in mutual fund analysis and portfolio management, this book is both a thorough resource and a practical guide. ... Read more

Book Description

Called "trail-blazing and hard-hitting" ("Christian Science Monitor"), this in-depth portrait of an investment empire reveals Fidelity's dramatic impact on America's corporations and individual investors. of photos. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not an insider
Wouldn't it be interesting to know what really goes on inside Fidelity? They own every company in America and their proxies ought to control the outcome of every boardroom battle, what a subject! Plus, this is one man's creation and certainly a discussion of who he is and what he does would be interesting.

But, no. Unfortunately, you can't look here for much of any insight into any of these subjects. Too bad.

tantalizingly incomplete
The author tells the very interesting history of Fidelity Investments and FMR, from Ed to Abby Johnson, and through it, a history of the mutual fund industry in America. The author makes a case for Fidelity being an autocracy geared to selling shares in mutual funds at all costs. Certainly, the last few years have shed a lot of light on the seamy side of Fidelity. In Fidelity's defense, little is told of the "good guys" at Fidelity like longtime manager George Vanderheiden, and even the tale of Magellan is told haphazardly (what happened to Morris Smith?). Still, I found that I was pretty much unable to put it down for long, and it was pretty good read.

Useful, but it has its limitations
This is a book that needed to be written: the explosive growth of the mutual fund industry in the past 20 years is one of the seminal events of our generation, and Fidelity is the most important mutual fund company out there. That having been said, I think that Diana Henriques could have done a much better job. The text is often jumpy and disjointed, and the actual events as Henriques relates them often don't warrant the build-up that she gives them in her introduction to them. More disturbing, I disagree strongly with many of her criticisms of Fidelity. Don't get me wrong: there are many valid criticisms of Fidelity that can be made, from the exorbitant fees it charges for average performance to the many ethical lapses that have plagued Fidelity in the past 10 or 15 years. But Henriques carries it too far. In one breath, she criticizes Fidelity for selling massive amounts of stock early on Black Monday in 1987 to meet the equally massive redemption requests that its funds had received over the previous weekend because most Fidelity funds did not have sufficient cash on hand; in the next, she criticizes the Fidelity Magellan fund for having too much cash on hand in early 1996, thus missing the big market rally that was in progress then. Likewise, she criticizes Fidelity's active role in corporate governance and then later criticizes Fidelity's policy that Fidelity funds in the aggregate cannot own more than 15% of any company. You can't have it both ways -- any organization which controls more than 15% of a publicly-traded company is going to have a big influence on the way that company is run. At its core, I think that Henriques's fundamental problem is that she believes that the Americans are and ought to be complete financial waifs who cannot be expected to make decisions about their finances in a responsible and informed manner. This assumption causes her to take Fidelity to task for things that Fidelity should not be taken to task for, and it undermines her books credibility.

A clear view of the explosive growth of mutual funds
The book gives a broad and clear view of the growth of the mutual fund industry in the United States and the consequences it has to the investors, shareholders and managers of the public quoted corporations. However, it rambles on sometimes, making the reader forget that the book is about Fidelity and the dangers a company of such size pose due to the power it holds trough the family of funds it has, unless it is adequately regulated and overseen. Anyway it is a great reading for anybody interested in the development of the mutual fund industry. Congratulations to Diana B. Henriques ... Read more

Book Description

For those ready to move on to a higher level of mutual fund investing, The Morningstar Investment Coach: Maximizing Returns and Staying on Track is the ideal resource. Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice-including how to bear-proof your portfolio, calculate your personal rate of return, and rebalance your portfolio-this guide will add advanced techniques to the sophisticated investor's mutual fund investing toolbox. ... Read more

Book Description

John Bogle on Investing is the first comprehensive review of the career and contributions of this dynamic investing icon. From Jack Bogle's never-before-published 1951 Princeton thesis to more than two dozen essays covering five decades of investing, it is a 50-year compendium of the work and wisdom of one of the world's most important financial figures.

Investors at all levels will profit from insights including:

• Recommendations for ensuring 100% of market returns
• Thoughts on indexing­­from the "Father of the Index Fund"
• Ways to keep today's turbulent markets in perspective

Praise for the International Bestseller Bogle on Mutual Funds:

"Any investor who owns or is thinking of owning shares in a fund should read this book cover to cover."
­­Warren Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

"This book sets the ultimate benchmark for all how-to-invest books."
­­Peter L. Bernstein, Economic Consultant, Author, Against the Gods

"A long-time student of the mutual fund industry, Bogle is both its harshest critic and its greatest friend. He is, in effect, the conscience of the industry..."
­­Don Phillips, CEO, Morningstar ... Read more

Reviews (8)

No nonsense book by one of the greats
A good, practical, no-nonsense book on investing that emphasizes returning to basics and tried and true approaches that have always worked over the long term. He points out that investing needn't be, and perhaps shouldn't be, rocket science, and that you can do quite well in the market over the long term just by matching the performance of the market, and not trying to beat the market. As many people found out recently, pursuing a momentum strategy in an era of already overheated PE's and buying the latest hot story stock can be dangerous to your portfolio's health. Following a value-oriented fundamental approach with at least part of your portfolio can be a useful way of reducing volatility and improving your performance even if you're a died-in-the-wool momentum investor. This advice is especially timely coming as it does in the aftermath of the recent bear market. Another important point that many experts emphasize is that it's important to implement an investment program that matches your needs and risk tolerance, perhaps the most important thing in an investing program, since if you can't sleep at night, you probably won't be able to maintain it over the long haul.

As Bogle points out, since 90% of fund managers fail to beat the averages over the long haul, the best strategy is to buy a fund that tracks the major indexes, which does two things. First, it minimizes costs, so you won't pay any management fees as you would for your typical mutual fund. Also, most investors don't realize such costs as advertising and sales expenses are minimal for an index, compared to other funds, and those are typically passed on to the investor in the load or management fee. Since there are now more mutual funds than there are stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (which is over 5000) and as I said, 90% of them fail to beat the indexes, it's hard to imagine a more sobering reason for making an index at least a part of your investing strategy. So overall, a good book on investing emphazing a no frills, common-sense, and back-to-basics approach.

Although Bogle amply documents and demonstrates that most fund managers can't beat the averages over the long haul, and so the best way to invest in a mutual fund is to buy one that invests in the indexes and avoid the costs of managed funds, this doesn't mean a small investor can't beat the averages. The reason most funds don't is that most own so many stocks, as in the case of the Magellan fund, which used to own 1400 stocks, that they're forced to buy too many second and third tier stocks (or worse), which degrades their performance. The individual investor, however, can cherry-pick and do much better that way, assuming he's successful at it. But the point is that mutual funds have an inherent disadvantage in terms of owning a quality portfolio that inevitably stacks the odds against them, a limitation which small investor doesn't have.

A brief side note here. I noticed the forward is by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve Chairman who was succeeded by the present Al Greenspan. Volcker went on to head up the World Bank after that job, and I was glad to see he's still around and working.

Back-to-basics approach
A good, practical, no-nonsense book on investing that emphasizes returning to basics and tried and true approaches that have always worked over the long term. This advice is especially timely coming as it does in the aftermath of the recent bear market. Bogle points out that it's important to implement an investment program that matches your needs and risk tolerance, perhaps the most important thing in an investing program, since if you can't sleep at night, you probably won't be able to maintain it over the long haul. He also emphasizes that investing needn't be, and perhaps shouldn't be, rocket science, and that you can do quite well in the market over the long term just by matching the performance of the market. As many people found out recently, pursuing a momentum strategy in an era of already overheated PE's and buying the latest hot story stock can be very risky. Following a value-oriented fundamental approach with at least part of your portfolio can be a useful way of reducing volatility and improving your performance even if you're a died-in-the-wool momentum investor.

The best to do this is by following a strategy of just investing in a fund that tracks the major indexes, which does two things. First, it minimizes costs, so you won't pay any management fees as you would for your typical mutual fund. Also, most investors don't realized such costs as advertising and sales expenses are minimal for an index, compared to other funds, and those are typically passed on to the investor in the load or management fee. But the most important reason is that 90% of fund managers fail to beat the averages over the long haul. Since there are now more mutual funds than there are stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (which is over 5000) and as I said, 90% of them fail to beat the indexes, it's hard to imagine a more sobering reason for making an index at least a part of your investing strategy. So overall, a good book on investing emphazing a no frills, common-sense, and back-to-basics approach.

A brief side note here. I noticed the forward is by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve Chairman who was succeeded by the present Al Greenspan. Volcker went on to head up the World Bank after that job, and I was glad to see he's still around and working.

Bogle Reflects Integrity In A Sea of Financial Doubt
John C. Bogle is to the average investor what Carl Sagan was to the lay astrophysicist---an imparter of knowledge blessed with the ability to make the complex and esoteric both comprehensible and intriguing. From his days at Princeton University in the late 1940s and early 1950s Bogle was a man determined to write the proverbial book on mutual funds. In the 1970s, Bogle established the Vanguard family of mutual funds for the common man and woman. Today, Vanguard is second only to Fidelity among mutual funds in assets under management. More importantly, and unlike its elitist rival, Vanguard boasts a family of impressive no-load funds. Chief among them are index funds which mirror the performance of the leading domestic and international stocks and bonds markets. An insightful financial analyst, Bogle long ago realized that despite all the hype and occasional home run on the part of actively-managed mutual funds, over a reasonable time horizon actively-managed mutual funds generally do not out-perform the major financial indices, indeed they comp[are rather unfavorably. Accordingly, and to the dismay of many alleged market gurus, Bogle proceeded to take the mystery (as well as the fees and charges) out of mutual fund investing for those of us who don't own yachts and villas along the Mediterranean. His no-load indexed funds are a prudent approach for the regular guy and gal who hope to retire with financial security and comfort. His story is a worthwhile read as much for its knowledge and wisdom on mutual fund investing as it is for the author's honesty and integrity. "John Bogle on Investing" is particularly welcomed in light of recent criminal charges leveled against many of our largest mutual funds and investment houses. Bogle writes as he speaks, with authority and sincerity. I highly recommend "John Bogle on Investing."

A Great Collection from One of Investing's Great Minds
Bogle is brilliant on so many of the investment issues that matter most to individual investors -- investing intelligently, the fallacy of active management, how the investment-management industry screws its customers and gets away with it, etc. But as good as he is as an investment "guru," he is even better as a writer.

His writing combines a deft mastery of mathematics with the ability to lay it out on the page so carefully that you'll wonder how you didn't think of the idea. His prose is simple, concise, and often, funny. Bogle is best in speeches and essays, this book combines a very well selected combination of both.

I read other investment literature, and I frequently see the articles and speeches in this book cited. Any interested observer of financial markets, investor wanting to keep from losing his shirt, or professional in the investment management industry would benefit from reading this book. I heartily recommend it!

Changed my investment outlook
The first two sections of this book changed my investment outlook. I now intend for the majority of my investments to be invested passively using index funds.

His arguments that most mutual funds underperform their respective index is convincing. This coupled with the difficulty of picking the managers that will outperform the index over the long term in advance, has convinced me that only by investing in the index can you guarantee that you will be investing in one of the leading funds.

The other 3 sections while interesting are more ruminations from Bogle about life, business and the stock markets. Interesting but not world changing. In fact I suspect that most people would be better off buying "Common Sense on Mutual Funds" by Bogle.

I would heartily recommned this book to anyone who wishes to be convinced that they can maximise their return, while avoiding the risk of underperformance by investing in index funds. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (23)

A Great Book Based on a Bad Theory
This is one of the best books on investing I've read (I've been at this several years, and read several dozen). It seems better argued than John Bogle's Common Sense on Mutual Funds, which isn't bad. Especially helpful was the author's demonstration that index investing isn't the same as investing in the S&P 500. One wants to invest in value, mid-cap, international, and other indices, and Swedroe tells you how and in what proportion. The book's subtle is "the only guide to a winning investment strategy you'll ever need." It sounds grand, but for the average investor (this includes most who think they aren't average) it's probably true. I especially appreciated his advice not to go to the funds, even index funds, for bonds. He doesn't seem to be pushing a product.

But there's something puzzling about the book. If it's one of the best books on investing I've read, it's certainly the best book on investing I've ever read based upon a wrong theory. That theory is Modern Portfolio Theory/Efficient Market Theory. Because he believes it, Swedroe says that value funds (stocks) are cheaper because they are riskier, which he actually argues. One sees the great virtue of the book here: he gives evidence and argument, not just assertion. Still, that all value stocks are distressed stocks is hard to believe, and the claim that risk has nothing to do with volatility is hard to swallow. Instead of saying that the market is all knowing, which is why it is so hard to beat the market, especially given transaction costs, why doesn't he just say something like "in the short run (less than five years), markets are manic-depressive, irrational, but in a way that is very hard to exploit, since there is no clear pattern. If it's hard to know which way a rational market is going to go (random walk theory), how much harder it is to make sense of an irrational market." Everything he says about indexing would still be right, and he wouldn't have to work so

hard to show it's all really rational. (Still, I appreciated his explanation of why Warren Buffett has beat the market: he doesn't just buy good companies; he runs them.)

One other thing. A serious book like this should have an index.

At last, investment advice free from Wall-Street hype.
Continuing the themes of his first book, Swedroe makes the case for investing in passively managed index funds in a way that is both entertaining and instructive. Not only does the author blast away at the Wall Street machinery - whose interests Swedroe shows are not aligned with those of the investor - but he also provides the theory and the practical background to personally tailor your investments for maximum return. It's really quite simple: IF YOU INVEST IN THE MARKETS, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

Diversify and Index Your Investments
Investors should recall that a 1990 Nobel Prize was awarded to three financial economists whose ideas helped legitimize what is known as 'modern portfolio theory' (MPT). MPT points to an investment strategy that author Larry E. Swedroe says is at variance with the interests and advice of the popular financial establishment (hence Swedroe's contentious title). For followers of MPT, stock and bond market prices represent, very efficiently, all that is known and expected by investors of a security. There is no evidence that markets systematically misprice securities. So, the market prices securities to their value. Markets work. A corollary is that no individual money manager will be able to consistently know more than the market. Wall Street's managed (active) efforts to exploit perceived market pricing inefficiencies fall short. Active managers are undone by higher fees and the taxes that trading profits generate. This is Swedroe's main argument with Wall Street. Stock selection does not work consistently or economically. Active management is flawed by its underestimation of market efficiency and its operating expenses. Bottom line: Money managers don't beat the indexes. Swedroe quotes Benjamin Graham, an icon for stock-pickers, near the end of his career apparently siding with the market efficiency school. Indeed academic research supports the idea that the most important factor in market returns is not stock selection but exposure to key asset classes (e.g., large or small company stocks, "growth" or "value" stocks, international or domestic stocks). Swedroe argues for passively 'managed' index mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF) on the basis of their lower expenses and the market's efficiency. Investors should have a globally diversified portfolio of "low correlating" assets because of the unpredictability of certain asset classes moving in and out of favor. Investors seeking greater returns may find them with small capitalization and "value" stocks. Swedroe identifies a key tenet of MPT in Chapter 10, namely, how diversification works to increase the average compound return of individual investments within the portfolio. A little more detail might have been useful in this section. WHAT WALL STREET DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW is a helpful if somewhat repetitive introduction to the basic ideas of modern portfolio theory. The author revisits this material even more persuasively in his later book, RATIONAL INVESTING IN IRRATIONAL TIMES.

okay
Some interesting points, but his claim about the efficiency of the market being always reflected in the stock price and there being "no evidence" to the contrary is garbage. He uses the 90's to show how Warren Buffet did not beat the market. But the 90's were an irrational bubble fueled by dot.com stock madness. When Yahoo stock was peaking, to justify that price, within 20 years Yahoo itself would have had to equal 1/3 of the entire U.S. economy!! There was NO WAY that Yahoo was not going to fall in price at one point, as it eventually did. Its price was hardly "efficient" at its peak. The market can be beat, and Lynch and Buffet have done it. And Buffet is famous for his patience in waiting A LONG TIME for his investments to pay off (which belies the ten year #). But most people do not have Lynch's and Buffet's minds and THAT's the reason most people should invest in index funds. And that's why Buffet himself recommends the average person invest in index funds. 60% of the US population is overweight. The average American lacks discipline. THAT'S why the average person should invest in index funds. His conclusion is correct for the average person, but not all of his reasoning.

A note of dissent
In addition to the fact that I, too, felt that I was enduring a commercial for DFA, I was annoyed by the fact that this book is nothing more than a rehash of The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need: Index Mutual Funds and Beyond - The Way Smart Money Invests Today, Swedroe's May, 1998 book. He introduces a small number of new studies and illustrations, but if you've read the first book, there's no reason to look at this one. ... Read more

Book Description

MAXIMIZE YOUR RETURNS -- MINIMIZE YOUR RISK

Now, more than ever before, average investors are embracing index funds to eliminate the anxiety and expense of trying to predict which individual stocks, bonds, or mutual funds will "beat the index." In The Index Fund Solution, Richard E. Evans and Burton G. Malkiel explore why choosing index funds -- funds that buy and hold all stocks or bonds within a given group of securities -- ensures that you will always do as well as the market average.

The Index Fund Solution not only examines why index funds are growing rapidly in popularity but, using easy-to-understand language, also explains how anyone, from longtime investors to novices, can use these thriving funds to create a successful investment strategy. Whether you are saving for a child's education, the purchase of a house, or your retirement nest egg, index funds can be the key to unlocking the potential of dependable, long-term returns. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Evans-Malkiel Book a good primer on indexing
Review of The Index Fund Solution by Evans/Malkiel

This is a good primer on using index funds to build a core portfolio, both with tax-deferred funds, such a 401(k) retirement savings, and taxable funds. The contributions of Evans , an investment advisor, is sandwiched between Professor Malkiel's introduction and closing chapter. It is one of three books I have read recently on the subject. Bogle's 2nd book on Mutual Funds is more technical and Swedloe's book is similar but is more oriented to the Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) approach.

The only mention of DFA is to Rex Sinquefield, Co-chair and CIO of DFA whose name is misspelled and whose title is wrong. DFA's enhanced index funds, based on the CRISP indexes are a major omission in the Evans-Malkiel book. Individuals can purchase those funds either if their employer's 401(k) has them available or if they use an advisor who has a relationship with DFA. The DFA 9-10 microcap funds have vastly different characteristics of size and value than the Russell 2000 or Wilshire 4500 index funds.

A few minor quibbles The Sharpe ratio example (p 86) 1.14% should be 1.14

P47 implies that "defined contribution plans" started in 1978. They go back 50+ years earlier to money purchase, profit sharing and stock bonus plans. In addition recent legislation allows employees of non-profits to be covered under 401(k) as well as 403(b) plans.

Evans chapter on taxes might have mentioned federal estate taxes which have a great impact on qualified plan participants with sizable estates. His three recommendations for variable annuities are all more expensive than one he omitted, TIAA-CREF.

Malkiel's final chapter provides an excellent rationale for capitalization weighted indexes as the only practical index-fund alternative, compared to dollar weighted and price weighted. DFA has an interesting approach to foreign indexing involving equal country weighting.

Malkiel, in his recommended portfolios, doesn't mention DFA's products in the large cap, REIT, foreign and small cap areas. While MPT and efficient frontier portfolios may be intellectually satisfying, Bogle and I have some problems with how slavishly one should follow their results.

All in all, this book is a very good starting point.

Conrad M. Siegel FSA, Consulting Actuary ... Read more

Book Description

Everything an individual investor needs to know about bonds.

The average income investor doesn't want or need to get bogged down in technical discussions of interest rates and time. So All About Bonds and Bond Mutual Funds gives them what they want­­a simple yet comprehensive treatment of bonds and bond funds. Along with updated bond information, this revised edition also includes new material on:

• Bond mutual funds
• Tax-free municipal bonds
• International bonds and bond funds

Book Description

Throughout the last fifteen years of the bull market, individual investors were able to participate and amass financial holdings by way of mutual funds.But the constant buying and selling to "beat the market" and grow their fund's wealth also entailed costs and capital gains.And who paid for it?The investor.Over the past 20 years smart investors began switching to index mutual funds to keep more of their money.Indexfunds buy and hold all of the stocks in an index, dramatically reducing trading costs and taxes. And now, with Larry Swedroe's expert advice, the small investor can take advantage of this investment strategy and win big.In The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need, Larry Swedroe explains:
*How index mutual funds out-earn older investment strategies
*How to pick the right balanced "passive" portfolio that will reward investors with the highest expected return for the amount of risk the investor is willing to accept
*How to play the winner's game with this big and rapidly growing investor trend. Based on over forty years of research by the world's leading financial economists, the advice Larry Swedroe offers in this new and valuable book shows that those willing to move beyond conventional wisdom will open themselves to a method ofgreat financial growth.
*The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need is the first major book on the newest Index Mutual Funds and strategies, today's biggest investor trend. ... Read more

Reviews (70)

The best book on investing since Lynch's Beating the Street!
In a clear and concise manner, Swedroe shows, no, convinces the reader, of the superiority of asset allocation and passively managed index funds.

With complete explanations and interesting examples the reader is taught the basics of the efficient market and modern portfolio theory. Using the principles described in this book, an individual investor can both "eat well and sleep well", that is, can achieve excellent investment returns while actually lowering the risk in his portfolio.

Even if one chooses not to implement the complete strategy outlined by Swedroe, the book offers insights into investing that cannot help but improve portfolio performance.

This book is suitable for the beginning investor as well as the sophisticated person that makes his living from the market. Read it!

This book will change your mind about investing
Along with the latest edition of Charles Ellis's book (Winning the Loser's Game : Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing), Larry Swedroe's book will drive you away from actively managed mutual funds and toward passively managed index (and more sophisticated asset-class allocation) funds. Swedroe builds a convincing case, not only by marshaling the extensive academic evidence showing that active stock pickers do not persistently beat their passive benchmarks over time, but also by demonstrating that you CAN beat the "market" by allocating your passive investments to achieve the optimal return for the risk you are willing to bear. He also provides specific portfolio recommendations for several standard risk levels. My only criticism is that this book -- like nearly all investment books with the exception of Ellis's -- is so heavily padded with anecdotal fluff that it interferes with a reader's capacity to grasp the essentials quickly. Even so, the book is well worth the price. It may permanently alter the way you think about investing.

Good Introductory Book on Investing...but...
The book is an easy read and can be understood by beginners as well as the experienced. Beware that the author does over state the advantages of indexing and passive investing to some degree--take note of "assumed" realized gain example on page 48--active managed fund of 8% in capital gains vs 1% in passive. If he actually looked at some annual reports of actual mutual funds, the difference between active and passive funds in the tax efficiency area is much less.

The author goes on explaining the higher historical returns of smaller companies on page 120. However, it has failed to remind that the much higher trading expense noted on page 94 must be accounted for thus the difference is less than dramatic.

The book could have discussed in more detail how the weighting of the funds for proper diversification used on sample portfolios from pages 153-160 was determined. He accused market timers for data mining--back testing for patterns yet these portfolios rely to some degree on value stocks outperforming growth stocks over the long run.

The worst criticism is that the book is biased for use of DFA funds--thinly disguised marketing of his own firm who Buckingham Asset Management which is one of the few firms which handles these funds. As noted, these funds are available only through select fee only advisors or through pension funds. What it failed to mention is that most fee only advisors only take clients with at least $100,000 to invest and for those with less than $500,000, the fee is typically 1% per year. This is addition to DFA fund's own expense of about 0.6% making them effectively a loaded fund.

I agree DFA funds themselves are very well structured line of products. However, the difference in expense and the seemingly endless addition of new indicies makes me feel that their small edge is getting lost. There's a fairly good debate on indexfunds.com on DFA vs Vanguard which is worth a read before enlisting an expense manager.

The author took incredible efforts to discredit professional fund managers for their mediocre performance of expensive active management. Part of the reason was that managers tend to drift away from established styles after being frustrated from recent underperformance. But the author defends fee only advisors that they can add value by making sure you follow your own strategy yet cautions that the investor should retain the last word. The temptation for the advisor to come up with a "better" plan while you're investing in an established strategy exist. The advisor's job is to make sure the investor doesn't make the mistake of drifting in style but also has the opportunity to influence a style drift. All the effort of promoting low cost investing approach seem to have gone to waste the moment the author is subtly pushing fee only advisor.

Author attempted to discredit Professor Jeremy Siegel's claim that small cap stocks do not outperform large cap stocks if an 8 year stretch is removed from a 70 year record on page 119. The author used a completely different index than Professor Siegel. It's still debatable whether there was a simple abberation in historical return or not especially considering the added trading cost of smaller companies.

The numbers seem to be exagerrated a bit by pulling things out of context so be careful with any numeric claims and draw your own conclusion only after doing more research.

Despite these problems with the book, it is a good read. It explains the merits of passive investing, the principals of diversification, why fundamental/technical analysis aren't necessary or may even be counter productive, etc.

I highly recommend reading Jeremy Siegel's "Stock for the Long Run."

Strong Foundations For Investors
After reading Larry Swedroe's excellent second and third books I felt compelled to return and read this, his first book. My urge to do so has been more than adequately rewarded by this excellent text.

Larry Swedroe lays strong foundations by focusing on three major areas. First, he summarizes the results of several studies indicating that passive investment strategies outperform, over time and by a wide margin, active investment management. Second, Mr. Swedroe offers the individual investor a through overview of Modern Portfolio Theory and its subset, Efficient Markets Theory. Third, Larry provides a guide to the construction of a portfolio and discusses the roles investment advisors may undertake for the individual investor.

While some of the material in this first book is duplicated and updated in the second and third books, I recommend all three of these texts to individual investors. Larry Swedroe possesses the knack to take recent academic research and pass it on in an understandable, common sense manner to the many individual investors who do not possess advanced degrees in statistics.

My own library of "good books" on investing has grown to nearly 20 different texts. All three of Larry Swedroe's texts make my "good book" list. (I have rejected over 100 other texts and not included them on my "good book" list.) I highly recommend all of Larry's books, together with additional texts by Burton Malkeil, Peter Bernstein, John Bogle, Bruce Temkin, Roger Gibson and others. Larry's three books greatly assist the individual investor to build a solid base of knowledge to understand what works (and the many things that don't work) in investing. I highly recommend this book, and all three of his books, as key additions to every serious investor's library.

Swedroe
One of the best books on investing in index funds you'll ever need. The model portfolios are a big help too, and Swedroe's strong cases and academic studies supporting his ideas; it really convinces you to why you should invest in index funds. After interacting with the author, who, is one of the smartest men on investing, I can't wait to read his other books. ... Read more

Book Description

The Morningstar Investment Coach: Building a Diversified Portfolio allows readers to take the next step in their mutual fund journey. With discussions of topics such as gauging risk and return together, how to choose index and international funds, and the importance of knowing your mutual fund manager, this practical guide will help readers sharpen their mutual fund investing skills. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

morningstar.com not this book
I purchased the 3 books in this series hoping to find a way to bring the invaluable content of morningstar.com to my classroom [where our WiFi is spotty] in a book.The books are quite weak -- a light version of the information contained in the Learning Center / Morningstar University.Save your money; visit the morningstar.com website. ... Read more

Book Description

A smart, simple approach to selecting the handful of funds that are right for you. With nearly 10,000 mutual funds to choose from and very little objective advice on which ones are best for different goals, investors need clear guidance to select funds that are right for them. "The Winning Portfolio" presents a simple, practical remedy to the usual haphazard process of picking mutual funds. This is not another laundry list of "the best" mutual funds. Paul Farrell directs investors to the types of funds best suited to them. For example, someone moving into retirement shouldn't choose the same mix of funds as a thirty-something executive. The best portfolio of funds for each of us depends upon risk tolerance, portfolio objectives, and the length of time we want to be in the market. How do we go about finding the strongest handful of holdings to meet our needs? Beginning with the 100 best mutual funds out there, CBS Marketwatch columnist Paul B. Farrell offers a systematic, yet simple, approach to selecting the ten that will diversify and add value to specific portfolios while reducing volatility. He present criteria for narrowing investment choices to those that fir individual requirements. Farrell also includes critical guidance for monitoring portfolios over the years and rebalancing in a bear market. Lists of "hot" funds change every week, but this book gives a sustainable investing strategy, featuring reliable advice on: creating objectives for a mutual fund portfolio; finding the best high-growth, no-load, and tax-advantaged funds; selecting specific funds that meet long-term needs; assembling a diversified fund portfolio that reduces risk, readjusting assets to meet changing needs, plus: analyzing sample mutual fund portfolios to use as models. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

An excellent guide to mutual find investing
The Winning Portfolio: Choosing Your 10 Best Mutual Funds is an excellent guide to mutual find investing and ideally suited to the informational and strategic planning needs of the novice investor. Written by CBS MarketWatch's dean of funds Paul Farrell, The Winning Portfolio aptly presents how best to choose between the top 100 mutual funds and create a diversified, solid portfolio that will effectively put your money to work for you. Written in clear, easily understandable language for new investors and long-time market veterans alike, The Winning Portfolio is a must-read for everyone putting a sizeable chunk of their financial well-being into the mutual fund market.

It just makes sense
There are so many books on investing right now, that it is difficult to know where to turn. "The Winning Portfolio" is a gem that stands out from the rest of the crowd. This book is easy to understand, even for a novice, yet is not beneath those who have already been investing.

He explains how to build a winning portfolio using mutual funds with emphasis on asset allocations. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. He helps the reader determine how to build a portfolio based on their needs, then offers examples of how to meet financial goals. Yes, it takes a bit of work, but it doesn't require the diligence (and the stomach) of a day-trader to maintain. This system will work for the average person.

After reading this book, I have a solid plan in place and an idea of where I'm headed and why I'm going there. I agree with the previous reviewer... Dr. Paul's column at cbs.marketwatch.com is also required reading.

The Winning Protfolio - a winning book
If you have not yet read Paul Farrell's internet column on the CBS Marketwatch page, you are missing out on a lot! This book, and his daily column on SuperStar Funds, are a must for anyone planning their future.

A Great Place to Start
This book is an ideal starting point for those who are trying to figure out how to start saving. Dr. Farrell is a comforting voice to anyone who might be overwhelmed at the thousands of mutual funds on the market today and the other countless investment options avaialable these days. Dr. Farrell's message is simple - make a plan, then stick to it. Then, and this is where other columnists, writers fall down, he tells you HOW to do it. He outlines what a model portfolio would look like and gives a long list of funds that might be good choices. Dr. Farrell's other message is, it's not hard to invest - most of the gains in your portfolio come from the allocations you pick - not the individual funds. The book is simple, well-written, and interesting. This shouldn't be the last investment book you read, but if you haven't read one yet, it should be the first! ... Read more

Book Description

How John Bogle built Vanguard and transformed the investment world­­in his own words

Jack Bogle remains one of the titans of the investment world and a hero to the independent investor, as renowned for his influence as he is respected for his accomplishments. Character Counts is the story of how Vanguard was born, why it has flourished, and what leadership principles and management practices fostered its development.

Covering the period 1974­2001, the story is told through the dozens of potent and memorable speeches he has given to Vanguard crew members over the years, interspersed with a narrative that provides context and explanation. This "you are there" approach provides new insights into one of the world's most important financial institutions­­and into the mutual fund industry itself. Character Counts paints an indelible portrait of the man Fortune named one of the "four giants of finance" of the 20th century.

Reviews (7)

give this book to your kids
Several reviewers say not to buy this book because it repeats itself over & over. That is just the point that these people (who must have low SAT scores) missed; namely that virtue and honor do not change.We all learn by repetition and that is what Mr. Bogle does. Vanguard was and continues to be founded on bedrock solid honest principles that will not change.He is especially cognizant of his "Crew" (they are above employees)and their constant contribution to the success of Vanguard. Mr Bogle had a heart transpant in 1996 and remains in vigorous and good health. My favorite quotation of his is "The past is history. The furure's a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present." (Page 272) This book could be sold in Christian Bookstores. I am sure many in the financial world cannot or will not understand it.I bought 5 copies of this book to give to my family & friends. It not only gives a history of the stock market for the last 80 years (and the shenanigans), but a wonderful lesson in CHARACTER COUNTS.

Simply Worthless Reading
Having read all of Mr. Bogle's other books, I found this one a total waste of time. Too bad, since his other books are masterpieces!

Don't buy this book!
I am a big Bogle and Vanguard Fan, and I say this as a shareholder. But this is a big waste of time, unless you like reading transposed speeches. Anyone looking for a in depth look into the development and early days of the Vanguard Group as Bogle transitioned from Princeton...to Wellington Renegade will be horribly disappointed. I know I was.

It's ironic that the cover of the book doesn't allude to it's content...copies of speaches. I guess "Character Counts" only when your dealing with other people's money...

Go Vanguard!

Too repetitive
I respect Mr. Bogle for what he has done for the mutual fund industry, however, I think he could have left his mark on this world without publishing this book. One can only read so many speeches where the same topic is discussed over and over again. Invest your money in Vanguard funds, but not this book.

An E for Effort, But not much More
I guess this book summarizes the state of publishing. You throw a multiple book advance at a retired legend; he pockets the money and rehashes a couple of his speeches from the last 25 years and you package them with a trendy, relevant title. Voila, you have a profitable book.

At least the sports writer was honest when he entitled his dip in the publishing money pool, "I am back for more cash."

The sad fact is there is probably not a better person to address the character issues facing Wall Street today. Being a full blooded member of the Wall Street Establishment, Mr Bogle understands the concept of "ringing the register." So when he returns, in the words of the sports writer, "for more cash," I hope he "earns it" in the words of deceased Smith Barney spokesperson.

A lot has happened since Bogle founded the Vanguard Group in 1974. As head of the firm, he read proxy statement after proxy statement disclosing increasingly more offensive conflicts of interest and stood idly by or perhaps worse, ignored them. I would love to know his thoughts on the role of the fiduciary in shareholder democracy. Or, how about boards of directors who continue to throw good money after bad down the rat holes of stock buybacks? Why did Vanguard play such a passive role in allowing the accounting profession to price it auditing services as a loss- leader so it could sell more profitable consulting products?

Bogle's observations on these trends would more than fill a book on character. My suggestion to readers is to save your money for Character Counts, The Sequel. Unlike Hollywood, the remake will have to be better than this sorry book. ... Read more

Book Description

The first authorized inside look at a major mutual fund company! Vanguard is, in the eyes of man, the most influential mutual fund company in America. Now the Vanguard Experiment chronicles Vanguard--from startup in 1975 to the second-largest mutual fund company in the nation today and the industry's number one sercice firm--reveals how John c. bogle, Chairman of the Vanguard Group, realized his remarkable vision to build a company with over $160 billion in assets and a reputation for keeping costs low and putting the interests of the investor first. Revolutionary, iconoclastic, and uncompromisingly committed to his founding principles, bogle stands alone in an industry that grows increasingly greedy for higher sales charges and management fees. The Vanguard Group is best known for shining a beacon on a low-cost, customer-oriented approach that other mutual fund companies cannot ignore--and may ultimately follow. the Vanguard Experiment reveals: The Vanguard philosophy, including Bogle's "press on regardless" motto that helps the company stand behind its revolutionary tactics despite criticism from the rest of the industry; Bogle's role as the "conscience" of the industry, and his desire to reform many of its practices; The three crucial decisions made at Vanguard over the last 21 years, including: the 1975 "Vanguard Experiment", the decision to "go no load" in 1977; and the internalization of a large part of Vanguard's investment management efforts in 1981; Background on John C. Bogle, including his early years at Princeton, his career with the Wellington Management Company during the '50s and '60s, and the first frustrating years of Vanguard; In-depth interviews with jack Bogle, Jack Brennan, and other mutual fund leaders; A rare inside look at the legendary money manager Joh neff and Vanguard's Windsor Fund. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent book for those interested in Vanguard
Would recommend anyone intersted in this book to first read "Bogle on Mutual Funds" first as it's an excellent book and covers similar material. If you are still interested in learning more about Vanguard, then this book is an excellent compliment. It's not as critical of it's subject as I would have liked, and really doesn't cover the personal life of the subject so as a biograhy leaves a lot to be desired. It does, however chronicle the amazing story of Vanguard. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

"As investors increasingly demand ‘open architecture’ in their choice of mutual funds, this book helps illuminate those unique combinations of skill and discipline that go into being a successful fund manager."
–James P. Gorman
President, Global Private Client, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

"If you want to know how the experts consistently beat the market over the long term, then this book is for you.Whether you’re a professional or just beginning, this book is revealing and intriguing."
–James W. Brinkley
Chairman, Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.

"This book sheds light on the methods and secrets behind some of Wall Street’s best portfolio managers."
–Peter D. Jones
President, Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc.

"The fund managers profiled in The Winner’s Circle are a true representation of investment excellence."
–John V. Murphy
Chairman, President and CEO, OppenheimerFunds, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

This book was better than my training class
This book provides lessons from the cream of the crop, the mistakes they've made along the way (and what they learned) and the successes. These are lessons based on actual experience. After reading this book, I wrote a new business plan for my team based on the ideas presented in The Winner's Circle.

A superb book
There are a few influential books in the securities industry that should be required reading for all professionals in the securities business. "Successful Telephone Selling" by Martin Shafiroff was a classic in the 80's and 90's and "The Excellent Investment Advisor" by Nick Murray was a compelling book a decade ago. I would be remiss in not including "The Winner's Circle" as a classic in its own right.

"The Winner's Circle" is a superb book for rookies and veterans alike that re-visits some of the very basics of our industry, but--importantly--finds new life for the financial advisor. You'll be glad you read this book. Your advice and service are more necessary than ever, and this book will guide help you guide your business to new and higher levels.

This book is a "Winner"
Probably the best book on the subject. You can glean insights here from the real masters in the business.

Excellent book!
This book sets new standards in the industry. The best advisors in the business share their best practices--something every individual in the business should learn.

I enjoyed this book
This book was well researched and offers some great ideas. I'd recommend this book for anyone in the business. ... Read more