"Winning the Loser's Game is considered by many to be a classic analysis of investing."Financial Planning The premise of the bestselling Winning the Loser's Gamethat individual investors can achieve far greater success working with financial markets than against themhas grown increasingly popular in today's hard-to-predict markets. The latest edition of this concise yet comprehensive classic offers updated strategies to leverage the power of time and compounding, protect against down cycles, and more.
The bestselling author of Pioneering Portfolio Management, the definitive template for institutional fund management, returns with a book that shows individual investors how to manage their financial assets. In Unconventional Success, investment legend David F. Swensen offers incontrovertible evidence that the for-profit mutual fund industry consistently fails the average investor. From excessive management fees to the frequent "churning" of portfolios, the relentless pursuit of profits by mutual fund management companies harms individual clients. Perhaps most destructive of all are the hidden schemes that limit investor choice and reduce returns, including "pay-to-play" product-placement fees, stale-price trading scams, soft-dollar kickbacks, and 12b-1 distribution charges. Even if investors manage to emerge unscathed from an encounter with the profit-seeking mutual fund industry, individuals face the likelihood of self-inflicted pain. The common practice of selling losers and buying winners (and doing both too often) damages portfolio returns and increases tax liabilities, delivering a one-two punch to investor aspirations. In short: Nearly insurmountable hurdles confront ordinary investors. Swensen's solution? A contrarian investment alternative that promotes well-diversified, equity-oriented, "market-mimicking" portfolios that reward investors who exhibit the courage to stay the course. Swensen suggests implementing his nonconformist proposal with investor-friendly, not-for-profit investment companies such as Vanguard and TIAA-CREF. By avoiding actively managed funds and employing client-oriented mutual fund managers, investors create the preconditions for investment success. Bottom line? Unconventional Success provides the guidance and financial know-how for improving the personal investor's financial future.
What if there were a way to cut through all the financial mumbo-jumbo? Wouldn't it be great if someone could really explain to us-in plain and simple English-the basics we must know about investing in order to insure our financial freedom? At last, here's good news. Jargon-free and written for all investors-experienced, beginner, and everyone in between-The Investment Answer distills the process into just five decisions-five straightforward choices that can lead to safe and sound ways to manage your money. When Wall Street veteran Gordon Murray told his good friend and financial advisor, Dan Goldie, that he had only six months to live, Dan responded, "Do you want to write that book you've always wanted to do?" The result is this eminently valuable primer which can be read and understood in one sitting, and has advice that benefits you, not Wall Street and the rest of the traditional financial services industry. The Investment Answer asks readers to make five basic but key decisions to stack the investment odds in their favor. The advice is simple, easy-to-follow, and effective, and can lead to a more profitable portfolio for every investor. Specifically: Should I invest on my own or seek help from an investment professional? How should I allocate my investments among stocks, bonds, and cash? Which specific asset classes within these broad categories should I include in my portfolio? Should I take an actively managed approach to investing, or follow a passive alternative? When should I sell assets and when should I buy more? In a world of fast-talking traders who believe that they can game the system and a market characterized by instability, this extraordinary and timely book offers guidance every investor should have.
Expert insights on what sets the great professional firms apart from all the rest Having devoted a career that spans fifty years to consulting with and studying professional firms in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, author Charles Ellis learned firsthand how difficult it is for an organization to go beyond very good and attain, as well as sustain, excellence. Now, he shares his hard-won insights with you and reveals "what it takes" to be best-in-class in any industry. Enlightening and entertaining, What It Takes explores firms that are leaders in their particular field and the superior people who create and maintain them. Along the way, it identifies the secrets of their long-term success and reveals exactly how they can put your organization in a better position to excel when properly executed. Contains many stories of achieving excellence, and addresses the obstacles that top-ranking organizations face in sustaining it Includes insights on leaders in their particular field—from McKinsey & Company in consulting and Cravath, Swaine & Moore in law to the Mayo Clinic in healthcare Written by one of the most experienced and respected business consultants/advisors of our time What It Takes skillfully shows you how innovation and a commitment to excellence can drive success, while also revealing how easy it is to fall behind. With it, you'll discover what separates the great firms from the good ones and learn how to attain, and maintain, organizational success throughout the years.
The evidence-based approach to a more worthwhile portfolio The Index Revolution argues that active investing is a loser's game, and that a passive approach is more profitable in today's market. By adjusting your portfolio asset weights to match a performance index, you consistently earn higher rates of returns and come out on top in the long run. This book explains why, and describes how individual investors can take advantage of indexing to make their portfolio stronger and more profitable. By indexing investment operations at a very low cost, and trusting that active professionals have set securities prices as correctly as possible, you will achieve better long-term results than those who look down on passive approaches while following outdated advice that no longer works. "Beating the market" is much harder than it used to be, and investors who continue to approach the market with that mindset populate the rolls of market losers time and time again. This book explains why indexing is the preferred approach in the current investment climate, and destroys the popular perception of passive investing as a weak market strategy. Structure your portfolio to perform better over the long term Trust in the pricing and earn higher rates of return Learn why a passive approach is more consistent and worthwhile Ignore overblown, outdated advice that is doomed to disappoint All great investors share a common secret to success: rational decision-making based on objective information. The Index Revolution shows you a more rational approach to the market for a more profitable portfolio.
Foreword By Morgan Housel Psychology and the Secret to Investing Success In The Laws of Wealth, psychologist and behavioral finance expert Daniel Crosby offers an accessible and applied take on a discipline that has long tended toward theory at the expense of the practical. Readers are treated to real, actionable guidance as the promise of behavioral finance is realized and practical applications for everyday investors are delivered. Crosby presents a framework of timeless principles for managing your behavior and your investing process. He begins by outlining 10 rules that are the hallmarks of good investor behavior, including ‘Forecasting is for Weathermen’ and ‘If You’re Excited, It’s Probably a Bad Idea’. He then goes on to introduce a unique new classification of behavioral investment risk that will enable investors and academics alike to understand behavioral risk in a coherent and comprehensive manner. The Laws of Wealth is a finance classic and a must-read for those interested in deepening their understanding of how psychology impacts financial decision-making. “Should be read by all those new to investing.” JIM O'SHAUGHNESSY, International Bestselling Author “Don’t let your mind ruin your investing outcomes.” LOUANN LOFTON, The Motley Fool “Step away from CNBC and into financial therapy!” MEREDITH A. JONES, Author, Women of The Street
The ups and downs of negotiating are challenging enough at home. Put yourself in another country - where the customs and conventions are often radically different - and you've got a recipe for awkwardness and confusion at best, disappointment and disaster at worst. That's why you need this new, expanded edition of How to Negotiate Anything With Anyone Anywhere Around the World. It will provide you with the savvy you need to negotiate with finesse and ease, no matter where you are.
"This is that rarity, a useful book."--Warren Buffett Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor. Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways. Marks expounds on such concepts as "second-level thinking," the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. Encouraging investors to be "contrarian," Marks wisely judges market cycles and achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action. Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, and each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing.
From William Green, a financial journalist who has written for The New Yorker, Time, and Fortune, comes a fresh and unexpectedly profound book that draws on interviews with more than 40 of the worlds super-investors to demonstrate that the keys for building wealth hold other life lessons as well.
