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The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio (精装)
by William J. Bernstein
| Category:
Stock investing, Investment guide, Introduction to investing |
| Market price: ¥ 318.00
MSL price:
¥ 288.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Among a host of investment guides, this book stands out as an excellent overview of investing principles and applications. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 9 items |
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Robert Barker, Columnist, BusinessWeek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
Bernstein is little known. But that's changing, and the sooner you get to know him, the better off your retirement portfolio is likely to be. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
If you are even slightly considering purchasing this book, get it NOW. It was a very fast read (I finished it in 3 days) due to the writer's natural style, and it will open your eyes to things like actively managed funds vs. index funds, fees associated with mutual funds, and the importance of asset allocation and diversification. I completely changed my long-term investment strategy after reading this book and I already feel like I am doing better than I had been for the past few years as far as increasing my portfolio's return while lowering its risk. Like I said, get this book now. I am getting a few copies for friends that deserve to make more money over the long term and I don't want to see make the same mistakes I did like paying for actively managed mutual funds with high fees that don't even perform well as the market! |
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D. Richman (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
I read Bernstein's previoius book and liked it. I like Four Pillars even more. It is well written, references substantial studies to support it's points, is easy to read and is often entertaining as well. Bernstein provides an important inside look into the deceptive world of finance, giving historical background and explaining how some heavily promoted ideas are not substantiated by objective studies. I have used Bernstein's ideas for my personal investments and have seen good results: nice returns without the usual rollercoaster ride. The best part is that, not only does his system work, it is so simple to use and requires very little time and effort. Thank you, Dr. Bernstein. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
This is one of the best books on how to get a good performing portfolio, from P/E ratios to SEC filings - let this be your guide to due diligence. The book also suggests to diverisfy your portfolio. And one of the best alternatives to the stock market is real estate of course. Here's a worthwile suggestion for other investors wanting to diversify from Wall Street to real estate: Investing Without Losing (ISBN: 0978834607 NOT on amazn, on other stores) |
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David Marshall (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
After twenty five years of following Lynch, I graduated to Bernstein.
ONE UP ON WALL STREET by Peter Lynch, who was famous for beating the market with his Fidelity Magellan Fund in the 1970's and '80's.
He argued that common investors could beat Wall Street professionals by holding individual stocks instead of mutual funds, and by watching everyday things around them. For example, he said when he noticed his wife and daughters bringing home fist-sized plastic eggs with panty hose in them, he found out who was making the so-called LLEGS, then bought shares of the company and made a bundle.
He advised readers to "water the flowers and kill the weeds," not the other way around, a trap most beginning investors fall into. People hate to sell losers so they hang on much too long, while selling the stocks that have done well to lock in small profits, thereby forgoing much larger profits if they had let the stocks run. He spawned a whole generation of amateur investors in search of the elusive "10-baggers", Lynch's term for stocks that increased ten-fold from their purchase price.
This book affected my investing philosophy for almost 20 years. It served me well in the 1990's because I was in the information technology business and invested heavily in this segment. Unfortunately the Internet Boom brought down all the tech stocks starting in 2000, so the Lynch strategy was devastating for my portfolio from 2000 to 2004.
Starting in 2005 I diversified into a combination of asset classes that more or less match the global market, including large cap, mid-cap, and small cap stocks, international stocks, bonds/preferred stocks, REITs, and gold. A little bit of segment specialties are thrown in like commodity hedge and energy, both oil and new energy sources such as solar and wind. I still speculate on 5% of my portfolio with individual stocks, but everything else is in electronically traded funds (ETF's) or individual bonds. I don't believe in bond funds, since they don't guarantee principal like individual bonds.
The best book I have found on the wisdom of asset allocation and indexing the market instead of investing in individual stocks or high-priced managed mutual funds is THE FOUR PILLARS OF INVESTMENT: LESSONS FOR BUILDING A WINNING PORTFOLIO, by William Bernstein, This book is one of the top-5 recommended investment books by the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Clements, and the book that legend John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group, says he wish he had written. I recommend this 2002 book MUCH MORE highly than Peter Lynch's 1970's book.
Following the advice of THE FOUR PILLARS, you won't beat market, but nobody really does this anyway long-term. Bernstein proves it statistically, and even shows Peter Lynch could not sustain his Magellan record over the long term. But the good news is that you won't lose your shirt and you will always do as well as the overall market, which goes up given enough time. When one asset class gets clobbered, you can sleep well knowing that one of your other asset classes is doing well to make up for the one that is suffering. Reallocate once a year but don't try to time the market, which leads to high transaction fees and ultimately to lower returns.
And stay away from high priced brokers. Bernstein also warns about newsletter gurus, who cannot beat the market but zap your your portfolio with subscription fees. Be content with 6% to 8% for your total portfolio instead of gambling to get 15%+ and then ending up with -30% or worse. I got greedy and paid the price in the 1990's.
Good luck with your own portfolio. |
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L. Wheeler (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
If you are thinking about gaining either more control over your investments or understanding the actions of those in control of your investments, this is the book for you. Word of caution: the author is strongly prejudiced against paying someone to actively manage your account. His arguments are always accompanied by historical data and analysis to back up his position. With a chapter entitled: "Your broker is not your buddy" he is hardly subtle.
Actually, this book is clearly written with a "something for everyone" approach to explaining investments and the markets with a specific focus on mututal funds. This book is written in a way that gives the reader a choice: 1.) Read the book cover to cover. 2.) Skip around, and choose chapters that appeal to you. I have a degree in ecomomics and an MBA. My husband is a CPA. Individually, we were drawn to different chapters in terms of providing us with new information that increased our knowledge base in various areas. In other words, it is linear in that one can easily follow the author but not so linear that one must adhere to the chapter by chapter reading of it. BTW-dont let my background prejudice you. This book is written and illustrated (love the graphs and stats) whereby a reasonably intelligent person with no financial background, can understand the author, and enjoy the subject matter. Bottom line, if you are looking to start the year more informed as to your financial choices with regards to investing this book ia well worth the cover price. |
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H. Gross (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
The title for my review essentially sums it up, so I will use this space to instead talk about what I see as a fault in this book, and that is the perceived emphasis that you cannot be a successful trader.
While it is difficult if not impossible for large institutional investment firms to do better than the market on a consistent basis, swing trading has proven to be very for successful for some. While daytrading, as far as I am concerned, remains an unrewarding activity for the time and effort you put in, swing trading is relatively simple assuming you have a fair grasp of the market and you follow news.
Using the recent (and current) media and investor blitz of Google as an example, anyone who could see the forest instead of the trees would have noticed how outlets who generally do not focus on the market did. All the network news shows talked about it, and it's generally pretty rare for them to talk about any IPOs.
From the perspective of day traders, and even people on Wall Street, this did not signify anything special. For people who watch for these kind of things, it was surprising to see an IPO get such publicity.
The swing traders, unlike those on Wall Street and day traders who cannot see the forest through the trees, probably made a ton of money off of Google, as well as on other 'trends.'
Ugg boots is a fine example. Had you invested in Deckers, the company that markets the product, when you saw it becoming a 'trend' and something all the celebrities had to have, you probably would have made a pretty penny.
Now while this investment strategy isn't for everyone, and i'm not saying all your money should go to a style like this at all, it is proof that you can make quite a bit off the market in the short-term.
That said, the implication that large short term gains cannot be made is my ONLY criticism of this book. And in reality, this book is for long term investing, so I should not expect Mr. Bernstein to delve further into the issue.
If your kids are interested in investing, give this to them. The chart for "Young Yvonne"'s investment path should be photocopied and pasted on the wall of every dorm in every college in North America.
There is simply no more complete book in existence explaining safe, long term investment strategy, and explaining the basics of the stock market.
I wish I read this book when I was 15. Don't make your kids wish they had as well. |
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Vinay Krishnaswamy (MSL quote), USA
<2007-10-22 00:00>
Bernstein is obviously extremely analytical and objective. I've been trying find good books on investing and have read quite a few books. Some of those are good. However, no other book I've found gives a clear idea on how to formulate an investment strategy with a clear eye on risk overall with some excellent suggestions on independently going about it like this book. There were many little "gems" in this book in addition to great overarching clear ideas. Also his take on mutual fund companies and some advisors is eye opening. It made me reconsider my current strategy in an objective way. Read it and you will feel more confident in tackling the complex journey of investing. |
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Jeffery Steele (MSL quote), Taiwan
<2007-10-22 00:00>
I began seriously investing in stocks and bonds about three years ago. Since that time, I've read perhaps a dozen books on investing. This is my favorite. It has all the elements a beginning investor needs: clear explanations of basic investing concepts; lucid and entertaining prose; a brief history of the market to illustrate for the reader both the manias and extreme pessimism that have sometimes gripped it; and, most importantly, numerous cautionary tales about the industry that helps beginners make their investment choices.
Bernstein identifies four pillars for building a portfolio: theory, history, psychology and the business. The pillar of theory is about the conceptual framework of investing. This potentially could have been a very difficult section, but Bernstein makes it very readable even though he introduces a couple of ideas he claims most brokers are not familiar with. The second pillar of history is about how markets in the West have behaved in the past. Bernstein argues this history is important to remember so that investors develop reasonable expectations for what their investment will do and recognize both the warning signs of an overheated market or the symptoms of a depressed one.
The third pillar of psychology helps the reader to combat the usual mistakes beginning investors make: excessive trading, following hot stocks and funds, high fees, overconfidence, etc. Bernstein says the investor must learn to emotionally detach him - or herself from the investing crowd while still keeping a healthy respect for all he doesn't know. The fourth pillar of business emphasizes that those who provide investment services for you are often your worst enemy to getting a decent return on your money
This is a great book, but not a perfect one. I wish Bernstein had explained some things more fully - especially in the first section of the book on theory. But what he does explain, he explains well enough to catapult the reader to the next level of understanding, should he or she choose to go there. Some critics of the book might argue that Bernstein says nothing new. This is true. But the effectiveness of the book is in the way it is presented and how it is written. I recently read John Bogle's book "Common Sense on Mutual Funds". It is a superb book, and has many (but not all) of the same points as "The Four Pillars of Investing". But it fails to engage the reader as well as this book does. |
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1 Total 1 pages 9 items |
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