Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis [Hardcover]

Edwin J. Elton (Author), Martin J. Gruber (Author), Stephen J. Brown (Author), William N. Goetzmann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471238546 | ISBN-13: 978-0471238546 | Publication Date: August 14, 2002 | Edition: 6

This book covers the characteristics and analysis of individual securities as well as the theory and practice of optimally combining securities into portfolios. Stressing the economic intuition behind the subject matter, this classic text pres-ents advanced concepts of investment analysis and portfolio management.

It can be used for courses in both portfolio theory and in investment analysis that have an emphasis on portfolio the-ory. It can also be used in a course in investments where both portfolio analysis and security analysis are discussed.

The authors' goal has been to make all the material in this text accessible to students of portfolio analysis and invest-ment management, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels while maintaining the rigor through the use of ap-pendices which can be used in conjunction with the text.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edwin J. Elton, Stern School of Business, New York University
Martin J. Gruber, Stern School of Business, New York University
Stephen J. Brown, Stern School of Business, New York University
William Goetzmann, Yale School of Management

Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 6 edition (August 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471238546
• ISBN-13: 978-0471238546
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coverage, friendly lingo, March 30, 2001

By 

"christopher_nguyen" (Redwood Shores, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis (Hardcover)

For a textbook, this is written in a reader-friendly style. You can almost see the author at the blackboard explaining the concepts AND math in plain English. And yet, very little handwaving at all. On the other hand, this may also present special readability challenges: you may find yourself constantly flipping between text and tables to follow the discussion.

From a pedagogical point-of-view, some of the developments might have been more intuitively presented. For example, the chapter on option-pricing theory should mention the expected-value interpretation. Over all, however, this text does very well on this score.

I particularly liked the survey of empirical studies at the end of each major concept, that discusses the imperfections that other researchers have looked into, and their findings.

This is one of the core reference texts I keep on my desk.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, comprehensive textbook, but a little uneven, June 9, 2006

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis (Hardcover)

If you are looking for one textbook on financial investment, this book should be on the top of your list. It has very solid and comprehensive coverage of all the major topics in financial investment, from portfolio construction to CAPM to options to global investing. What I like the most is the detailed discussions on the various pros and cons of each model or technique people use in the real world. This book is a little light on math, but there's enough to satisfy casual readers who want some math but don't want to deal with things like linear algebra or stochastic processes. Another excellent feature is the large number of references the authors provide.

I cannot give this book 5 stars because, due to the multi-coauthorship, the chapters can be a little uneven in both readability and level of treatment. One chapter will give you two pages of algebra from the first grade, and the next chapter is packed with discussions that require a deep understanding of economic theory. The audience of this book is a college senior or a first-year master's or Ph.D. student, which may explain some of this unevenness. The book also tends to be wordy at times.

But overall, this is a good textbook that you can learn from as well as reference in the future.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review on Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis, March 20, 2000

By 

P Zaum (Cologne, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis (Hardcover)

I found this book extremely useful for studying Business Finance on BSc level. It is well written and comprehensive. It is very good on 'Mean Variance Portfolio Theory', 'Correlation Structure of Security Returns', 'CAPM' and 'APT'. The book is money well invested for people doing a finance related course at University either at Undergraduate level or at Graduate level. The Maths examples are good, but can be a little tricky at times.