The Little Book Review

Fundology - The Secrets of Successful Fund Investing

by John Chatfield-Roberts

Book review by Brian Blackburn

With so many traditional financial institutions failing us all these days it is becoming more and more important to develop our own understanding of investments and long term savings. Pensions are no longer considered a trusted institution, taxation erodes both these and bank investments like never before, loop holes and tax breaks are restrictive and increasingly complicated. No wonder so few of us simply avoid it and live for now.

But hope is at hand; fortunately many of the clever investors want to share their success with us. One of these is John Chatfield Roberts who has laid out an idiots guide to seeing through the complexities and smoke screens of investment in funds.

Critically at its core this book is sensible advice to firstly "define your aims" get "clarity of thought" on what it is you are trying to do with your investments and critically as an individual what sort of risk you are prepared to accept both now and as you get older. Underpinning this whole concept is the push for personal planning with realism in mind and not allowing yourself to be swamped with "noisy" adverts that proclaim to be "too good to be true" , if that is the case it always is "too good to be true" , leave them alone.

Risk and return are intrinsically linked and this book refers to it consistently to give the reader a very balanced view on what investments will suit them. I think this book gives the reader a real sense of comfort and acts almost like the benevolent teacher we had a school and knew we had to listen too, not only is John Chatfield Roberts the author of quality writing but also a successful fund manager.

So what is a "fund manager"? Well it is a person who is good at getting a return for someone else's money (and their own usually) with above average returns which is dependant on size of investment and risk levels. Nice and simple really, therefore as the book illustrates succinctly, you should find a fund manger that matches your investment aims, understands your needs and appreciates your level of risk that you will accept.

You need to take a position on this as there are in any walk of life bad, good and excellent performers. Fund managers are no different, the author in simple terms talks through how to research these fund managers and how they are monitored and controlled by their employers. Do some homework mode, add a little speculation on what "big themes in the world are making money" select good fund managers with a track record, and you are sure to get an above average return on your investments. It certainly works for me. And if you don't believe me check out what Standard & Poors said about the author. Available form most retailers and etailers at 10.99 or visit Intelligent Investor Bookshop.