Editorial Reviews. leondumoulin.nl Review. In the investment-management business, it's best to John Neff on Investing - Kindle edition by John Neff. Download it.
Table of contents
It consists of three parts: The second part of the book is too superficial and the third part too self-congratulatory. However, his record is undoubtedly very strong and he provides us with another convincing example of the merits of Graham-Dodd-Buffett-like investing.
Neff managed the Windsor Fund from to During this period, Neff brought the fund average annual returns of He beat the index in 22 of those 31 years. His investment philosophy is based on finding good companies with low price-to-earnings ratios. He said that he never bought a stock that was not on sale. He also believed that careful portfolio concentration was necessary to produce alpha. He often bought stocks that were out of favor in the market, sometimes because of bad news or because they were not in "hot" industries. He would, however, sometimes buy into hot industries by investing in suppliers to these industries.
He believed in rigorous analysis, spending his weekends rereading the Wall Street Journal papers of the week. His consistency and intellectual honesty in his investing approach make the book a worthwhile read. When anybody who succesfully managed a fund for 31 years, through changing fads and market regimes writes a book, it begs to be read by all practioners of his art. I picked this book with much hope, expecting at least some binding context-free conclusions to be had - particularly some original ideas. I found nothing earth shattering, and dare say a little dissappointed - not for reading it, but for delivery that was much less than the potential.
John Neff talks about investing in 60s, 70s and 90 When anybody who succesfully managed a fund for 31 years, through changing fads and market regimes writes a book, it begs to be read by all practioners of his art. What I would have liked him to discuss more are i portfolio weighing process - where as book is predominantly focussed on stock-picking and ii how he coped with various stakeholders when he underperformed, which he did roughly for a third of the time.
Any book that talks about how- I-got-it-right-under-my-circumstances has limited appeal, reflecting on limitations of his own approach would have made this book better - every investment rule underpeforms under some condiions and a portfolio manager ought to be aware of that. There is much more to portfolio management, even if it has value tilt, than mere stock-picking and I wish John spent a lot of time on that.
His idea of measured participation is a very good idea; I wish John was more generous in building this further. Too many money managers think portfolio management means stock-picking only and this book unfortunately may reinforce their prejudice and myopia. All in all readable, deserves to be finished quickly without thoughtful pause; not a classic. John Neff is arguably one of the most successful mutual fund managers.
So why wouldn't you want to read his book? Well, first of all, it's unbelievably boring. Reading this book is about as exciting as reading the instruction manual for your dish washer.
John Neff Resource Page
Listening to the audiobook doesn't make it any better, I constantly found myself losing focus. Secondly, he contradicts himself: When enumerating examples of the investments he John Neff is arguably one of the most successful mutual fund managers. When enumerating examples of the investments he made only the profitable ones! And each example is so short, that you can't really learn anything from most of them. In terms of quality, however, it doesn't quite get there.
- John Neff - Wikipedia!
- Small Worlds: A Novel.
- Year of the Slug.
- leondumoulin.nl: John Neff on Investing (): John Neff: Books.
- High Temperature Superconductors And Other Superfluids.
You can learn something from reading this book, but after reading many other books on investing I could barely find anything unique here. Read it if you want to know about John Neff, specifically, or if you're just looking for some inspiration. Jul 27, Nicholas rated it it was ok Shelves: So the book is basically: Part 1 - Early life biography Part 2 - Investment philosophy with very little detail Part 3 - History of his life in the stock market, but not nearly as strong in the teaching lessons as say Peter Lynch's.
It gives you a little taste of his philosophy, but it doesn't really give the dive or detail on the philosophy that other investment books do. Jan 19, Joel Gray rated it it was ok.
John Neff - Low PE Investor
Neff managed the Windsor Fund for 30 years and averaged 3. It closed to new investors in and was the largest mutual fund in the US. The main reason he was so effective at contrarian investing was discipline.
He was able to go against the tide as he knew more about his companies. He was original, independent and rational in evaluations and was a hard worker. Would forecast normal earnings for the cyclical without forecasting when normal earnings would surface exactly. Margins don't grow to the sky. Eventually, attractive companies must demonstrate sales growth. Windsors portfolio was at 5. The fund did Jan 12, Darius rated it liked it. A nice book that shows a sensible investing style. While the book is full of good decisions, I would have preferred the mention of more of the mistakes that were made, and an analysis of them.
Also, I found that the chronological style was a bit dry. It does not allow for a way to pull the threads together into a mental model. And, finally, the mental model is what is important if one wants to benefit from this book. I think the book imposes on the reader much of the task of building such a model.
May 29, Robert added it. I listened to this audio book and liked his tendency to as he put it "argue with a signpost" and that you need to study like a doctor to be a good investor.
- John Neff on Investing.
- The Fifth Decease (Lives Of Secrets Book 1).
- John Neff Resource Page;
- Civil Engineers Handbook of Professional Practice.
John Neff was a value investor, but like many later value investors he veered slightly off the strict Benjamin Graham style of investment. He is like Graham in that he buys stocks that are cheap and dull and sells them when they reach their fair value. John Neff like other famous value investors did not try to buy what everyone else was.
He would simply buy what was cheap. If auto stocks were cheap he would have a large concentration in that area. John Neff managed a diversified portfolio of stocks. John Neff had a specific formula for finding attractive stocks.
DEFINITION of 'John Neff'
This would be a satisfactory return. Both expectations are problematic. Investment philosophy John Neff was a value investor, but like many later value investors he veered slightly off the strict Benjamin Graham style of investment. Some of the criteria that John Neff looked for in a stock included: A strong balance sheet Cash flow positive A higher than average return on equity Good management Prospects for near term growth A good product and market in which to sell the product John Neff had a specific formula for finding attractive stocks. Articles John Neff, Legendary Investor: Part 1 John Neff, Legendary Investor: Part 2 John Neff, Legendary Investor: Never Miss A Story!
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