Invoking the words and spirit of Thomas Paine, investor-turned-historian John Bogle concedes that his ideas for revamping the mutual-fund industry are perhaps "not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor." But despite likening the "ills and injustices suffered by mutual fund investors" to those "our forebears suffered under English tyranny," Bogle--founder of the Vanguard Group--makes a strong case for index funds with this exhaustive study of investing.
He begins with primer-like essays on investment strategy, championing mutual funds for their inherent investment value, and then grinding each point home with a bevy of graphs, charts, entertaining anecdotes, and common sense. He repeatedly stresses time as a basic tenet for investing, listing these simple rules: "Time is your friend"; "Impulse is your enemy"; "Stay the course." And then he proceeds to blast fund managers, who have become marketers rather than managers.
The trade-off between the profits that accrue to fund shareholders and the profits that accrue to the fund management companies seems subject to no effective independent watchdog or balance wheel, despite the fact that the shareholders actually own the mutual funds.
It's an interesting concept: smart, reasoned investors can all but secure their financial future, but the system itself, run unchecked by fund managers, needs a major overhaul. And considering the amount of reasoned, historically based support he includes, readers will have a hard time finding fault with the sometimes controversial Bogle. Equal parts instructional and crusade,
Common Sense on Mutual Funds deserves the attention it's likely to receive. Recommended.
--Rob McDonald
Common Sense on Mutual Funds. New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor Forward by Peter L.Bernstein.
"Other investment executives used to roll their eyes about Vanguard's Bogle, but his rules work."-Newsweek
When Jack Bogle speaks, people listen-whether they are fans or not. As the senior chairman and founder of the Vanguard Group, one of the two largest mutual fund organizations in the world, he has single-handedly transformed the industry by championing better funds at lower costs to the investor. A leading thinker and visionary whose ideas and principles have been adopted by countless investors, his name is as synonymous with excellence in mutual fund investing as Warren Buffett's is with excellence in stock investing. Now, in Common Sense on Mutual Funds, Bogle takes a critical look at the mutual fund industry and how we invest, and charts a compelling course for change.
Written in Bogle's inimitable style, this eye-opening book examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing alongside industry practices that are often in conflict with a sound long-term investment program. Common Sense on Mutual Funds shows investors how to revolutionize their portfolios by embracing simplicity and then avoiding industry pitfalls. Just as Thomas Paine argued for a new way of thinking about independence in "Common Sense," so Bogle sets forth a new way of looking at mutual funds. He presents a platform for intelligent investing and then uncovers the ills that beset the mutual fund industry, serious ills that thwart our efforts to accumulate adequate financial resources. He analyzes costs, scrutinizes asset size, exposes tax inefficiencies, warns of "empty suit" directors, and reveals the severe conflict between fund principles and fund pro-motion. Emphasizing long-term investing and asset allocation, Bogle finds in simplicity the solution to the riddle of fund selection by investors. From stock and bond funds to global investing and index funds, Common Sense on Mutual Funds provides insight, illumination, and enlightenment.
For more than 30 years, Bogle has championed the rights of the fund shareholder, for he believes that investing is first and last about people's hopes and fears and individual goals. In Common Sense on Mutual Funds, he speaks eloquently about individual investors and how their interests are not being well-served: "The ills and injustices suffered by mutual fund investors are not so dissimilar to those our forebears suffered under English tyranny. . . . I have no quarrel with management companies focusing on profits. But the trade-off between the profits that accrue to fund shareholders and the profits that accrue to the fund management companies seems subject to no independent watchdog, despite the fact that it is the shareholders who actually own the mutual funds."
Organized as a series of essays on the investment issues of the day, this insider's view of the industry makes vital information on mutual funds accessible to experienced investors as well as those just beginning. A veritable treasure chest filled with insight and guidance from a true leader, Common Sense on Mutual Funds is an invaluable addition to every investor's library. Bogle's message, amid the cacophony of investment advice, is clear and simple: common sense will rule the day.