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Worth your time Oct 26, 2009
I've read other personal finance publications and found them too basic to be worth my time, or too vague. I like to constantly increase my knowledge of personal finance. This book has delivered and should appeal to a broad range of investors. If you're serious about investing in today's world...and you should be, then this book should be on your desk.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Useful, practical investing ideas in an understandable presentation Oct 22, 2009
Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009 by Sean Guatam is great in many respects but what puts it at the top of my list is that it has investment strategies I can relate to. The book is very insightful and truy helps the reader prepare for a more advanced style of investing. I believe reading this book will help give those who may have thought of investing in areas like natural resources, commodities, green energy, etc., the impetus and ability to form a workplan. While there may be more technically advanced books on this subject, many are of little use when it comes to the task of actually sitting down and creating an investment portfolio. What good is theory if it cannot be put to use? Gautam has crystallized some arcane areas of investing and made them very simple for the average investor to understand and use. Of course, nothing can be expected to be perfect, but the reader will be miles ahead with this book's strategies if he or she currently manages their investments by gut feeling and no real planning. Other books talk about ideal or perfect portfolios, but they really don't explain how you should create and manage these portfolios. This is what sets Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009 apart. Almost everything in the book seems useful and practical. I highly recommend it. Can't believe it took so long for a book like this to come out!
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Circle of Life Oct 12, 2009
Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009 is a very timely investment book due to the implosion of the equities markets. The average investor now understands that agressive hedge fund strategies,collateralized debt obligations and run away residential real estate market were not based upon reality. They now need real help and Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009 is the resource that provides the "Risk-Specific Portfolio" strategy for the average investor. The concept is new, easy to understand, implement and manage on an ongoing basis.
The author, Sean Gautam , is a fresh new author on the investment scene with innovative ideas that are grounded in well known conservative financial theories but applied in a new and innovative way. Sean Gautam is the new "Lion King" on the investment circuit. Soon his roar will be heard. I anticipate this book will become a best seller. Michael Nolan , President and CEO of Nolan Financial
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A Highly Useful Investment Guide for Turbulent Times Oct 12, 2009
After having recently come across Advanced Portfolio Strategies by Sean Gautam, I felt I should share the virtues of this book, which are many. As the review by Eric points out, the best feature of this book is that it makes the complicated world of investing seem like child's play. Gautam's most credible advice in this book is for investors to adapt their portfolios and investing strategies with evolving global changes. This book takes you from ineffective buy-and-hold strategies to a new form of adapt-and-evolve strategies.
From start to finish the book is very readable, easy to follow and highly intuitive for anyone considering how to invest in this unpredicabtle environment. The emphasis on fundamentals discussed in this book is very useful and lays the foundation for successful investing strategies, which is what separates successful investors from trend followers. I can see how this book will help average investors to focus on risk and systematically carry out different investing strategies. Gautam's ideas on setting up separate `risk-specific' portfolios make a lot of sense to me. The idea of using different asset classes to manage risk is also very compelling. There are certainly many securities available now that allow investors to take opposing positions very easily, which Gautam shows how you can use to hedge your portfolios. I also think that the unique selective diversification strategy will work for most investors by limiting downside risk, but at the same time the investor will have to give up some upside potential to compensate for less risk.
In summary I would say this is a very useful book for anyone who is interested in managing their own investments. This book simplifies the whole investment process and does not require investors to quit their day jobs for managing their portfolios, or hire expensive outside investment advisers. I was actually impressed that Gautam, who is himself an investment manager, frankly speaks out against performance misinformation, `custom' portfolio management practices and why investors should only use investment advisers that do not earn commissions. The author also points out that this book does not offer a magic portfolio solution and that a large part of investing success depends on the investor's own commitment. I absolutely recommend this book.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
The Indispensable Investing User's Manual for 2009 Oct 11, 2009
Outstanding. Indispensable. Superlative. One-of-a-kind. Some of these terms are fitting descriptions for Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009, but the one word that really sums it up is - effective. I was a little dubious at first about this new `must have' book, but after reading some of the other reviews I decided to give it a try. Well, well, well. The book turned out to be much better than I expected. This book has been written in a crisp, purposeful manner, without undue embelishments. I would describe this book as a roadmap to a comprehensive, long-term and sustainable investment portfolio strategy. The key word here is sustainable. What makes the book's strategies sustainable? I believe those are the two essential foundations offered in this book: 1. Adopting an evolutionary portfolio strategy and 2. Relying on fundamentals that are critical to the eventual outcome. Unlike gimmicky `trading' strategies or abstract theortical textbooks, this book is like a user's manual to portfolio-based investing. As an IT professional with an MBA, I liked this book's objective, organized and practical approach very refreshing.
The author, Sean Gautam, who runs an investment firm seems to have gone to painstaking detail to make everything usable and understandable by average readers. Most books tell you what investments you should have in your portfolio, but they do not tell you when and why some investments may be more appropriate than others. In other words, most books offer a static portfolio construction approach relying on the false assumption that the portfolio will continue to perform in perpetuity. That is not possible. Gautam's approach tells the reader WHY certain investments must be held in a portfolio and more importantly WHEN. I really like Gautam's dictum that the portfolio must evolve over time.
In terms of actual portfolio construction, Gautam is convincing about the need for utilizing multiple asset classes to diversify risk. The whole investing approach driven by `risk specific' portfolios is very intuitive and seems to offer a good solution for investors who may want to follow different strategies simultaneously. The section of the book detailing portfolio construction, choosing investments, and how to go about it in the real world is very, very useful. I bet most people will think, why did I not think of this before? It all appears very simple after reading this book. Gautam has also done an excellent job of warning investors of certain pitfalls and common mistakes. This book is definitely for long-term investors and not for anyone looking to time the markets or make quick profits.
Since most investors got burned in the recent stock market debacle, I believe investors will look for more enduring investment strategies. In that regard, Advanced Portfolio Strategies 2009 truly delivers. This book should help average investors graduate to a higher and more robust portfolio-based investing style. While I'm not sure that we will see the Dow hit 17,000 for a long time, I know my portfolio will be ready for it when it does come to that. My heartfelt thanks to Sean Gautam for writing this book.
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