Winning with Index Mutual Funds: How to Beat Wall Street at Its Own Game [Hardcover]

Jerry Tweddell (Author), Jack Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 1997

With their enviable track record, low expenses, and moderate risk, index funds are poised to become the next big wave for investors. This book shows how anyone can climb on board -- and make higher returns.

The authors cut through the maze of 6,000 mutual funds with a clear explanation of what indexing is and why it works. Investors will discover how to use index funds in a lifetime asset allocation plan, as a way to rebalance their portfolio, or even for auto-pilot buy and hold investing.

The book supplies a list of index fund rankings, the first such directory of available funds, a roster of recommended funds, and plently of suggestions on avoiding the expensive experts. Readers will also find a Tweddell/Pierce Master Model Portfolio to help them index their own investments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jerry Tweddell (Sonora, CA) is a former stockbroker with twenty years of experience in both individual and institutional investing. He is presently a registered investment advisor offering consulting services to individual investors in index funds, no-load funds, and U.S. Government securities. Jack Pierce (Greenbrae, CA) spent over 30 years as a stockbroker and regional manager with major Wall Street firms. He retired recently from Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (February 26, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814403581
• ISBN-13: 978-0814403587
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Introduction to Index funds, July 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Winning with Index Mutual Funds: How to Beat Wall Street at Its Own Game (Hardcover)

A great introduction to index funds. Two other texts that complement this book are John Bogle's "Bogle on Mutual Funds" and the seminal "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton Malkiel. The case against actively managed mutual (or pension) funds is persuasively presented by any of these three but the Tweddell/Pierce treatment is more practical. The only criticism is that its list of index funds is already out of date. Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, etc. have recently joined the fray and some funds have closed

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had read something like this ten years ago., May 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Winning with Index Mutual Funds: How to Beat Wall Street at Its Own Game (Hardcover)

Great book--readable, troubling, eye-opening. I wish that I had read something like this ten years ago

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Review and Explanation of Index Funds, December 27, 2005

By 

Dale C. Maley "Index Fund Investor" (Fairbury, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning with Index Mutual Funds: How to Beat Wall Street at Its Own Game (Hardcover)

As an excellent review of index fund investing, I give this book an A.

Tweddell and Pierce's book was one of the first books about index fund investing. They published this book in 1997, prior to the index fund 1999 peak in popularity.

They do an excellent job of explaining index mutual funds and why they are advantageous for most investors.

They point out the paradox that a person is better off seeking the help of an expert for most things including medical doctors, car mechanics, and plumbers. Financial advice is one area where seeking out experts is not necessarily the right way to increase your net worth.

The key point of their book is that most active fund managers can not beat the indexes due to higher costs. Another key point is that by adopting a buy-and-hold index fund strategy, investors will reap the returns of the stock market because they will quit their futile efforts at market timing. They point out that indexing is even more important in bonds because expenses of actively managed bond funds eat up a lower starting return for bonds than stocks.

They point out the importance of asset allocation and demonstrate how an indexing strategy can be used to implement your desired asset allocation strategy.

I would suggest companion books to supplement this book including The Richest Man in Babylon, Bogle on Mutual Funds, The Millionaire Next Door, The 4 Pillars of Investing, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Wealth of Experience: Real Investors on what Works and What Doesn't, The Coffeehouse Investor, and the Armchair Millionaire.