Customer Reviews

Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This was one of the texts I had to read for one of my MBA classes. It provides an excellent theoretical background in finance and the theories that link finance to macro and micro economics. It is not very practical however. Not much in the book can be applied. It is a must, however, for any serious student of finance. The coverage of option models is a little light, however. I highly recommend that people have a background in calculus, differential equations, probability theory, and linear algebra before reading this book.

I was looking for a hands on book. It is a pity I had to buy also the software "The Investment Portfolio" which should be included, and also I missed the answers to chapter problems. After a couple of weeks I feel I could advise in making and managing a portfolio.

Required text for a portfolio management class I am taking. This book does not seem particularly visually engaging - absolutely no color at all in the book. Dry subject matter and a text to match.

This is my textbook in my MSc in ISMA Centre. It's little bit difficult to read but you'll find it's perfect if you can understand it.

I got what I expected at the time I was supposed to get it.