All About Asset Allocation, Second Edition [Paperback]

Richard Ferri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2010

WHEN IT COMES TO INVESTING FOR YOUR FUTURE, THERE'S ONLY ONE SURE BET—ASSET ALLOCATION

THE EASY WAY TO GET STARTED
Everything You Need to Know About How To:

• Implement a smart asset allocation strategy
• Diversify your investments with stocks, bonds, real estate, and other classes
• Change your allocation and lock in gains

Trying to outwit the market is a bad gamble. If you're serious about investing for the long run, you have to take a no-nonsense, businesslike approach to your portfolio. In addition to covering all the basics, this new edition of All About Asset Allocation includes timely advice on:

• Learning which investments work well together and why
• Selecting the right mutual funds and ETFs
• Creating an asset allocation that’s right for your needs
• Knowing how and when to change an allocation
• Understanding target-date mutual funds

"All About Asset Allocation offers advice that is both prudent and practical--keep it simple, diversify, and, above all, keep your expenses low--from an author who both knows how vital asset allocation is to investment success and, most important, works with real people." -- John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO, The Vanguard Group

"With All About Asset Allocation at your side, you'll be executing a sound investment plan, using the best materials and wearing the best safety rope that money can buy." -- William Bernstein, founder, Effi cientFrontier.com, and author, The Intelligent Asset Allocator

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard A. Ferri, CFA, is president and senior portfolio manager of Portfolio Solutions, LLC, and an adjunct professor of finance at Walsh College in Michigan. He is the author of Protecting Your Wealth in Good Times and Bad, All About Index Funds, and Serious Money: Straight Talk About Investing for Retirement. Ferri is regularly quoted in the media including the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Businessweek, and Forbes. He has appeared on many financial radio shows and television programs and is a frequent speaker at advisor industry events.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2nd Revised & enlarged edition (June 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071700781
• ISBN-13: 978-0071700788
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Ferri is the founder of Portfolio Solutions, LLC (www.portfoliosolutions.com), a low-fee investment advisory firm based Troy, MI. Portfolio Solutions manages close to $1 billion in separately managed accounts for high-net-worth individuals, families, non-profit organizations, and corporate pension plans. The firm specializes in analyzing and using low-cost and tax-efficient index funds and ETFs to build wealth for clients.

Mr. Ferri earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Science degree in Finance from Walsh College. He also holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Prior to joining the investment community in 1988, Rick served as an officer and jet pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and is now retired from the Marine Corps Reserve.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great information but sloppy August 2, 2011

By AmazonGuy

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book for someone looking to assemble their portfolio and not only successfully diversify it, but understand WHY diversification among asset classes works to reduce risk and increase returns.

My only real complaint is that it's sloppy - thus the three stars. I almost had to put the book down because I found so many spelling and grammatical errors in the first chapter. It was very distracting to me.

One has to wonder if this book was even proofread. (I think one or two errors in an entire volume is somewhat acceptable, but not the level of errors seen here.) I asked myself "Can I take the advice of such a careless author?" But in the end I think the concepts are mostly sound and it's a helpful intro.

But please, do a revision and fix all the errors!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide May 27, 2011

By Karl Borris

Format:Paperback

I just finished the outstanding book, All About Asset Allocation, by Richard Ferri. While I am well versed on the topic, I still learned quite a bit as Ferri goes went into detail on every facet of the practice. The only negative was that there seemed to be a lot of repetition, but given how important this topic is, a little repetition is a good thing. Ferri excelled in providing plenty of low-cost providers of index funds to be used in your asset allocation plan, but fell short of suggesting many ETFs as the selection at the time of publication was not as extensive as it is now, 2006 (first edition).

If you want a step-by-step manual on proper asset allocation, this is your guide. Each chapter guides you along as you build fund by fund until you have a portfolio of up to 12 different asset classes by the end of the book. There are plenty of examples on where the research originated from (Fama and French, Markowitz, and more) and makes for an enjoyable and quick read. His other books are just as helpful.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Investment Blueprint February 10, 2013

By Andrew Gurman

Format:Paperback

I found this book to be exceptionally useful in developing a long-term investment plan. Ferri makes excellent use of academic findings and statistical data to support the use of various asset allocation strategies. He provides a fabulous investment blueprint along with specific investment options for the layperson to structure an investment portfolio. Also, he lays out his points in a concise and compelling way.

I have now read John Bogle's "Common Sense on Mutual Funds," Burton Malkiel's "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," and this book. They each naturally have different emphases and taken as a whole are quite helpful. I found this book by Ferri to the most useful in actually structuring a specific investment plan, and I agree with his well-reasoned critique of Bogle, who de-emphasizes international investing to too large an extent. (I also commend Ferri for what he has done with his investment company, which charges a far lower rate than I had thought existed in the financial advisor arena - merely .25% versus the commonly charged 1%.)

A few negatives with the book, however, and as noted by some other reviewers (including AmazonGuy), are that it is rife with typos and grammatical mistakes; and it is repetitive, although that can be helpful for people looking only to read specific chapters. Nevertheless, the substance of the book is fabulous, and I will be applying Ferri's teachings as I construct my investment portfolio.