New Year Greetings to you!
After many years, we are getting into the New Year with much optimism and a belief that the year will present many new opportunities for investors, advisors and fund houses.
As an investment professional, knowledge is the ‘brahmastra’ that will help you realize the full potential of these opportunities.
In this context, I am happy to present the Cafemutual Annual Calendar where we have listed 12 books that are essential reading for you. In drawing up the list, our main criteria were relevance and depth of content. The selection covers vast ground - from basics of investments to practice management.
I hope you find the list useful. Share your thoughts with us at prem@cafemutual.com.
Have a great year ahead.
January 2015 - Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb uses a mix of philosophy, science and personal anecdotes to bring out the hidden role of chance in life and business. A key lesson for investment professionals is that random events do change the outcomes of our decisions and actions.
February 2015 - Pound Foolish by Helaine Olen
Journalist Helaine Olen exposes the myths, contradictions and outright lies of the personal finance industry in this book. One such often cited myth is that women are bad at managing finances. It is a compelling book which forces us to change the way we think and talk about money.
March 2015 - The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Penned by Swiss author and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly deals with human psychology and reasoning. The book tells us about 99 common fallacies of our thinking which lead us to make mistakes and gives us practical advice and tips on how to think better.
April 2015 - Investment Psychology Explained by Martin J. Pring
This seminal work in behavioural finance by Martin J Pring
shows how to overcome emotional and psychological barriers that can lead to
faulty decision making and offers classic trading principles that have stood
the test of time in the bull and bear markets.
May 2015 - Ineffective Habits of Financial Advisors by Steve Moore with Gary Brooks
The book is a step-by-step guide to on how advisors can bring excellence into every client interaction, generate higher revenue per client and take their practice to a new level. The book lists the most ineffective habits of advisors and offers solutions to overcome them.
JUNE 2015 - The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
First published in 1949, Intelligent Investor written by Ben Graham is the most acclaimed book on value investing. Described as ‘by far the best book on investing ever written’ by the legendary Warren Buffet, this is a ‘must read’ book for all investment professionals.
July 2015 - Storyselling for Financial Advisors by Scott West & Mitch Anthony
Make the complex simple and understandable is what Scott West and Mitch Anthony advocate in this book. The author shows with real life examples how describing a financial concept with the help of a story helps engage clients better.
August 2015 - The E-Myth Financial Advisor by Michael E. Gerber, Michael Steranka
The E-Myth Financial Advisor teaches advisors how they can put systems and processes in place to professionalize their business. The book will help budding advisors start a successful practice from scratch and experienced advisors to maximize their practice’s performance.
September 2015 - Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John C. Bogle
The founder of Vanguard Group, John Bogle has highlighted how an approach based on common sense and simplicity can deliver effective results. He makes out a strong case for indexing, an advice that advisors in India need to pay more heed to.
October 2015 - The Art of the Sale by Philip Delves Broughton
Philip Delves Broughton mines powerful insights after interviewing some of the world’s most remarkable salespeople. So whether you are selling a plan, advice or a product, there is a lot to be learnt from this book.
November 2015 - Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask... and Investors Need to Know by Alan Parisse and David Richman
This book will help advisors strengthen their probing techniques. It contains questions, suggestions and stories from some of the world’s top financial advisors, including a chapter on ‘great questions to ask’.
December 2015 - In Search of the Perfect Model by Mary Rowland
Advisor or distributor? Fee based or commission led? Niche or mass clientele? What kind of business should you build? If you have grappled with some of these issues, you will find many useful pointers in Mary Rowland’s book.
