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I'm working as an analyst at a HF, here are some thoughts: 1. First, be aware that most financial advisors make their money by charging you fees. These can com

by jakarta 17y ago

I'm working as an analyst at a HF, here are some thoughts: 1. First, be aware that most financial advisors make their money by charging you fees. These can come in a variety of ways, some will take a simple 1% off the top, others will try to persuade you to invest in CDs and other products like mutual funds -- the actual returns on these vehicles may be mediocre and the advisor may earn fees for selling you the products. So just be aware that their incentives may not be aligned with your goals of wealth protection. 2. Decide if you want to be a passive or active investor. Passive investing means putting your money into index funds. John Bogle of the Vanguard Group has a series of books out on the topic, there is a slim one called The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. -I'd recommend reading some of his work. Active investing is more difficult. To be honest, most people simply lack the time and effort necessary to invest intelligently in the market. They wont know how to read a balance sheet yet will buy the stocks of companies that they are familiar with. This is sort of like driving blind and it is not something I recommend. -If you want some I'll suggest some books for this area, but like I said, it is something that requires a big commitment from yourself.

zupatol 17y ago
I'm in a similar situation as the original poster, but with less money. I have been thinking about passive investment, but I live in Switzerland, so I wouldn't want to have all my money in Dollars or even Euros. So if I want passive investment, I first have to take the active decision of what part of my money I invest in which currency. It's probably not a good idea to have everything in a swiss franc index, this would mean a big exposure to very few big swiss companies. Do you have any idea if there is a 'passive' way to choose between currencies?
- jakarta 17y ago
  A lot of passive strategies involve allocating some of your capital in areas like emerging markets, which would potentially be beneficial in that you'd be gaining exposure to businesses that earn money in currencies besides dollars/francs.
rumpelstiltskin 17y ago
If you want some I'll suggest some books for this area Please do. Thank you.
- reasonattlm 17y ago
  The best and most useful books I've read on trading and investing (= slow trading if done right) are these: Mastering the Trade - John Carter How to Make Money in Stocks / How to Make Money Selling Short - William o'Niel Anything by Brett Steenbarger
  - capablanca 17y ago
    Can't find the Anything book, can you please give a link?
    - jakarta 17y ago
      his blog: http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/ http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/
- jakarta 17y ago
  Let me preface by saying I don't subscribe to EMH. With the people I work with, everything is fundamental analysis. I don't have much by way of suggestions for learning technical analysis. I recommend basically reading books by: Peter Lynch, Phil Fischer, and then chapters 8 and 20 of the Intelligent Investor. The book, Applied Value Investing, is also a pretty good place to start that actually does a lot of things well, combining both theory with practical case studies. -Reading the Buffett Partnership letters (not the Berkshire letters) is very helpful for someone managing small sums of capital, say below $10M In addition, you need to read and learn about financial accounting and valuation. John Tracy's How to Read a Financial Report is a good starter... for valuation Aswath Damodaran has a pretty good book that can be combined with McKinsey's book on the subject. Beyond that, some more advanced accounting books, especially forensic stuff is great to know. Financial Shenanigans and Creative Cash Flow Reporting are where I'd start with that. To be really good you also need to read quite a bit about psychology/mental models. Look for speeches/lectures by Charlie Munger. Books like Stock Market Wizards/anything that contains a ton of interviews with investors are also great. Reminisces of a Stock Operator is pretty good for giving you an account of the ups and downs that come with investing -- the guy the book is based off of blew his brains out. Studying financial history is also a must, especially with learning about prior bubbles. Finally, you just have to commit to reading a whole lot, every day, and becoming a learning machine.

by jakarta 17y ago

zupatol 17y ago

I'm in a similar situation as the original poster, but with less money. I have been thinking about passive investment, but I live in Switzerland, so I wouldn't want to have all my money in Dollars or even Euros. So if I want passive investment, I first have to take the active decision of what part of my money I invest in which currency. It's probably not a good idea to have everything in a swiss franc index, this would mean a big exposure to very few big swiss companies. Do you have any idea if there is a 'passive' way to choose between currencies?

jakarta 17y ago
A lot of passive strategies involve allocating some of your capital in areas like emerging markets, which would potentially be beneficial in that you'd be gaining exposure to businesses that earn money in currencies besides dollars/francs.

rumpelstiltskin 17y ago

If you want some I'll suggest some books for this area Please do. Thank you.

reasonattlm 17y ago
The best and most useful books I've read on trading and investing (= slow trading if done right) are these: Mastering the Trade - John Carter How to Make Money in Stocks / How to Make Money Selling Short - William o'Niel Anything by Brett Steenbarger
- capablanca 17y ago
  Can't find the Anything book, can you please give a link?
  - jakarta 17y ago
    his blog: http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/ http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/
jakarta 17y ago
Let me preface by saying I don't subscribe to EMH. With the people I work with, everything is fundamental analysis. I don't have much by way of suggestions for learning technical analysis. I recommend basically reading books by: Peter Lynch, Phil Fischer, and then chapters 8 and 20 of the Intelligent Investor. The book, Applied Value Investing, is also a pretty good place to start that actually does a lot of things well, combining both theory with practical case studies. -Reading the Buffett Partnership letters (not the Berkshire letters) is very helpful for someone managing small sums of capital, say below $10M In addition, you need to read and learn about financial accounting and valuation. John Tracy's How to Read a Financial Report is a good starter... for valuation Aswath Damodaran has a pretty good book that can be combined with McKinsey's book on the subject. Beyond that, some more advanced accounting books, especially forensic stuff is great to know. Financial Shenanigans and Creative Cash Flow Reporting are where I'd start with that. To be really good you also need to read quite a bit about psychology/mental models. Look for speeches/lectures by Charlie Munger. Books like Stock Market Wizards/anything that contains a ton of interviews with investors are also great. Reminisces of a Stock Operator is pretty good for giving you an account of the ups and downs that come with investing -- the guy the book is based off of blew his brains out. Studying financial history is also a must, especially with learning about prior bubbles. Finally, you just have to commit to reading a whole lot, every day, and becoming a learning machine.