The summer holidays can be a great time to plough through a few books. The investment team have pulled together a short list of books they have read during the year and would recommend to those interested in the world of business and investment. These may also make good last minute Christmas gifts!
The suspenseful page-turner: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (John Carreyrou)
New York Times bestseller covering the rise and fall of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup headed by Elizabeth Holmes.
“A stunning look into a high-tech hoodwinking; like a high-speed car chase in a book." -The New York Post.
Biography: The Man Who Solved the Market (Gregory Zuckerman)
The unbelievable story of secretive mathematician Jim Simons who pioneered the era of the algorithm - and made $23 billion doing it. Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor - Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George Soros come close to his record.
For the aspiring investor: The Little Book That Builds Wealth: The Knockout Formula for Finding Great Investments (Pat Dorsey)
Former Morningstar head of research Pat Dorsey’s book on finding great investments. He outlines the proven approach of focusing on companies with wide economic moats and reveals how you can effectively apply it to your own investment endeavours.
One for the optimists: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (Hans Rosling)
“Factfulness throws down a gauntlet to doom-and-gloomers in global health by challenging preconceptions and misconceptions and is a fabulous read, succinct and lively… This magnificent book ends with a plea for a factual world view. Rosling was optimistic that this outlook will spread, because it is a useful navigational tool in a complex world, and a genuine antidote to negativity and hopelessness.” - _Nature
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Homework for those wanting to understand Fisher Funds’ investing style: Quality Investing: Owning the best companies for the long term (Lawrence Cunningham, Torkell Eide and Patrick Hargreaves)
A great guide for investing in quality companies for the long term and one that explains Fisher Funds’ investing style well. The authors identify three characteristics of quality companies: strong, predictable cash generation; sustainably high returns on capital; and attractive growth opportunities.
Non-business related: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (Christopher McDougall)
There are a few runners at Fisher Funds and this global bestseller is an epic adventure and an easy read. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist Christopher McDougall sets out to discover the secrets of Tarahumara Indians in Mexico’s Copper Canyons that have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. The book ends with a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe.
Happy reading.
