Beyond Stocks - Hardcover

Merrill, John F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0965713156 ISBN 13: 9780965713153

Publisher: Tanglewood Pub, 1997

Synopsis

Looks at the history of the thirteen most important asset classes, and evaluates their risk and return

About this title

About the Author

John F. Merrill is the founder of Tanglewood Capital Management, a Houston, Texas, investment advisory firm. Merrill has managed portfolios of mutual funds as a fee-only money manager since 1979. He learned and applied the principles of Beyond Stocks on the job. Curious and intense, Merrill has researched the complete history of all major asset classes and how they work together in portfolios. He has written and lectured extensively on how to reduce the risks of investing while capturing the desired rate of return. He has been quoted in Money magazine, The Wall Street Journal and the Houston Chronicle.

From the Inside Flap

For over a decade we have known that the allocation of asset classes within a portfolio is more important in determining investment returns than the selection of individual stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Yet very little detailed research has been made available comparing the risks and rewards of the major assets classes. Which have demonstrated reliable or predictable characteristics? Which have not?

In this original and thoroughly researched work, you can now see the long history of the 13 most important asset classes individually evaluated. There are many surprises for long-term investors and investment professionals alike.

Even more important, what combinations of the most reliable asset classes (portfolio design) have delivered the highest returns for the risks taken? Superior portfolios built with fixed proportions of specific asset classes have outperformed the S&P 500 Index for decades...and with far less risk! Yet most portfolios take on far higher risks than necessary to earn only normal or even sub-standard returns.

Beyond Stocks reveals the absolute best portfolio design for each level of risk and for each targeted rate of return, then follows the individual performance of these superior portfolios from the crash of '29 to the crash of '87 and on through the end of 1996.

In addition, John Merrill demonstrates a better way to uncover those very few mutual fund managers who consistently outperform their targeted asset class.

This unique and thorough guide is written for long-term investors; it will have little value for market timers, active traders or speculators. The objective is to provide the best portfolio design for you, the one most likely to meet your targeted rate of return with the least risk.

Reviews

As more individuals find themselves facing decisions on how to invest retirement savings, many have begun to look at broadening their portfolios. In this regard, "diversification" has become a hot topic. Merrill, however, suggests that "asset allocation" is more important than diversifying or simply spreading risk over a larger number of stocks. By moving beyond stocks to consider 13 classes of assets among the three asset class families of stocks, bonds, and cash, investors can maximize their wealth and retirement portfolios. Merrill, a Houston-based fee-only money manager with nearly 20 years of experience, explains how to identify mutual funds to help take advantage of this strategy. He also acknowledges that his advice is best suited for long-term investors who already have a good working knowledge of the market and who are currently invested in mutual funds or a pooled investment account. David Rouse

Nowadays, it borders on received wisdom that investors will be winners. Money manager Merrill successfully argues that dictum here, focusing on building a wealth and retirement portfolio primarily through mutual funds, specifically index mutual funds. First, he establishes his three best asset classes (stocks, five-year Treasuries, and cash), then step by step shows how investors can allocate their money, according to their risk tolerance, to these funds. Surprisingly, he names names?those fund managers who have had the best long-term track records. Judging by historical performance, he shows that long-term (20-plus years) investors have always come out ahead. He cautions that for his model portfolios to work, investors must have the discipline to stay the course through inevitable market downturns. The clear logic and language of this recommended book should reassure all investors, actual and potential.?Alexander Wenner, Indiana Univ. Lib., Bloomington
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Selecting and adhering to one of the Global Model Portfolios puts the wind at your back as you sail through the years with your Wealth and Retirement Portfolio. You have channeled all of the best information from the history of investing right into the structure of your portfolio. You are squeezing a great deal of risk out of your portfolio while weighting the odds heavily in favor of your targeted long-term rate of return. You also have a powerful ally in that you have a thorough insight into the major risks to which your own portfolio is exposed...in advance.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tanglewood Pub
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0965713156
• ISBN 13: 9780965713153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 276