John Neff on Investing

When anybody who succesfully managed a fund for 31 years, through changing fads and market regimes writes a book, it begs to be read by all practioners of his art. I picked this book with much hope, expecting at least some binding context-free conclusions to be had - particularly some original ideas......more

John Neff is arguably one of the most successful mutual fund managers. So why wouldn't you want to read his book? Well, first of all, it's unbelievably boring. Reading this book is about as exciting as reading the instruction manual for your dish washer. Listening to the audiobook doesn't make it any......more

A little scattered but useful insights into John's investing approach with some punchy lines. I'd say most of the book's value is in its first 135 pages. General takeaways here: - Fund went as much as 20% to cash, but no more, since John was running an equity strategy; presumably his underlying inves......more

The Skinny: An investing book with plenty of useful insights by a legendary fund manager, however the second half of the book could be cut or ignored. The Good: John Neff is my favorite of the legendary fund managers, I like him even more than Peter Lynch. His dedication to analytical rigor, general......more

5 stars for the first half of the book and 3 stars for the second half. Learned a great deal from his investment approach in first half. Second half was much more technical and dryer reading. Overall great book.......more