Essays

Gently sceptical thoughts on investment and the wider world of finance – see my Medium publication The Patient Investor for more.

The Intelligent Fund Investor: a sceptic’s guide to investment

Joe Wiggins’ new book is an enlightening guide to how the stories we tell about markets can be harmful to investors

The Poets’ Guide to Economics

John Ramsden’s new book takes an engaging look at what poets from Daniel Defoe to Ezra Pound have had to say about ‘the dismal science’

Simple But Not Easy: a second edition of a cult investment classic

A new edition of Richard Oldfield’s popular guide to investment continues to fly the flag for active management and the value style

Making the case for long-term value investing – again

A new book by Jim Cullen, founder of New York-based Schafer Cullen Capital Management, restates the case for classic value investment principles

Share Power: a manifesto for giving control back to private investors

A new book by MoneyWeek editor Merryn Somerset Webb argues we can assert agency over companies through truly representative share ownership

Adapting the Efficient Market Hypothesis

Theories of efficient markets mislead because they seek to explain market behaviour according to the laws of physics rather than biology, says Adaptive Market Hypothesis proponent Andrew Lo

Trillions: a history of the rise and rise of passive investment

A new book by Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth surveys the history of index funds and considers their increasingly significant implications for the global economy

10 1/2 Notes on Beating the Market: a review

I review a brief but sharp polemic by hedge fund manager Paul Marshall on the possibility of beating the market

In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio: a review

A new book by Andrew W Lo and Stephen R Foerster profiling key figures in the development of modern portfolio theory offers a fresh perspective on the active versus passive debate