Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39421 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Released on: 2004-12-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
"Larry Swedroe answers a lot of questions investors ask. If you don't understand why your stocks behave the way they do, this is your book."
--Jane Bryant Quinn, Newsweek columnist, author of Making the Most of your Money

"Larry Swedroe is right on the mark...Those who follow his objective and expert advice will be rewarded accordingly."
- John C. Bogle, founder and former chairman of The Vanguard Group

"The investment book of the year!"
- Robert Sobel, Professor of Business History, Hofstra University

About the Author
Larry E. Swedroe graduated from New York University with an MBA in finance. He is the author of What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know, Rational Investing in Irrational Times, and The Successful Investor Today. Swedroe lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is a principal in the firm of Buckingham Asset Management.

Customer Reviews

It's True
The title is bold, almost arrogant. But after scrutinizing and using this work, if I were to throw all my other investing books away, my strategy would indeed not suffer.

It is now common to say, but Swedroe does a stellar job of distilling complex investing concepts into accessible prose that suggests a sound tactical plan. As always, his arguments are based on evidence--peer-reviewed studies--rather than the unsupported opinions vomited forth by many other so-called "authorities". His explications are also entertaining, making the bottom-line points memorable and the journey enjoyable. Re-reading provides delightful reinforcement of the main points. Whether an investor chooses to use a fiduciary advisor (like his own firm) or go it alone, the underlying essentials are identical.

If ordinary investors apply the concepts made here, they will likely be more competent than the majority of institutional managers, whose ironically inferior "active" tactics dominate the investing landscape--to the impoverishment of those who trust them to act in their interest. The cumulative weight of Swedroe's explications, examples, quotes, and references, makes this book essential not just for investors seeking to manage their own affairs, but also for "expert" managers who will hopefully get on the wagon. Just read it.

Best book I have read on investing for the individual
This is the best book I have read on investing, I have read many books on investing from Graham to Swensen. After reading this book an individual will have working knowledge of the highly sophisticated investment strategies that academic research has proven sucessful.

Is passive indexining truly the solution?
I enjoyed the book tremendously but before I convert or convert others around me who value my opinion, I wish someone could convince me of the following: when I look at specific well run low cost mutual funds in each of the different sectors ( Large cap, Mid Cap value , growth, international etc.) and if I choose a low priced Mutual Fund Manager with a long track record - and allowing for the fact that past performance is no guarantee of future results - it would appear these managers year after year beat the benchmark - which would be the indexed fund. When I look at the comparisons on morning star and can see them beating the benchmark year after year I understand these graphs are showing me NET - after all the costs, and trading fees and research by the grad students, etc - it still shows NET returns vs. the index year in and year out.

For example, take any well run mutual fund say... Columbia Marsico 21st Century Ticker: NMYAX fund. Look at the graph and how it beats its benchmark - its passively managed counterpart - year in and year out. Therefore there IS a good chance they will continue in this fashion. Even if they lose to the benchmark the odd year or so, it still looks like a better return every 3-5 years.

Yes it's an A share but I can place that into a wrap account at NAV and only pay a 1% management fee on it each year ( thus skipping the front end load ) and it is still well over the benchmark+1% each year.

Yes I know what the passive managers will say:

"History has nothing to do w/ future results" but hey - when we interview people for a job we ask them what they did in their past.

There is also in Larry's book data on incubators and killing the young investments that don't perform but unless someone can give me a reason why the chart in this graph is wrong when it is net and if I have a fund like this in all the sectors (thus a diversified, asset allocation fund that I can re-balance), I am not sure if I am ready to convert to a full 100% passive management strategy as Larry, or other passive proponents suggests.