Asset Management A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing (Financial Management Association Survey and Synthesis) - Hardcover

Ang, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199959323 ISBN 13: 9780199959327

Publisher: OUP USA, 2014

Synopsis

Stocks and bonds? Real estate? Hedge funds? Private equity? If you think those are the things to focus on in building an investment portfolio, Andrew Ang has accumulated a body of research that will prove otherwise.
In his new book Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing, Ang upends the conventional wisdom about asset allocation by showing that what matters aren't asset class labels but the bundles of overlapping risks they represent. Making investments is like eating a healthy diet, Ang says: you've got to look through the foods you eat to focus on the nutrients they contain. Failing to do so can lead to a serious case of malnutrition-for investors as well as diners.
The key, in Ang's view, is bad times, and the fact that every investor's bad times are somewhat different. The notion that bad times are paramount is the guiding principle of the book, which offers a new approach to the age-old problem of where do you put your money? Years of experience, both as a finance professor and as a consultant, have led Ang to see that the traditional approach, with its focus on asset classes, is too crude and ultimately too costly to serve investors adequately. He focuses instead on "factor risks," the peculiar sets of hard times that cut across asset classes, and that must be the focus of our attention if we are to weather market turmoil and receive the rewards that come with doing so. Optimally harvesting factor premiums-on our own or by hiring others-requires identifying your particular set of hard times, and exploiting the difference between them and those of the average investor.
Clearly written yet chock-full of the latest research and data, Asset Management will be indispensable reading for trustees, professional money managers, smart private investors, and business students who want to understand the economics behind factor risk premiums, harvest them efficiently in their portfolios, and embark on the search for true alpha.

About this title

Review

The phrases "finance textbook" and "page-turner" rarely occupy the same sentence or even the same paragraph, but Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing justifies that pairing of terms. (William J. Bernstein, co-principal at Efficient Frontier Advisors Reviewed by CFA Institute)

This splendid book lays out the important lessons that a new generation of finance research has learned about markets and investing, in a thoughtful and accessible way. Ang focuses on real issues for real players, and distills practical lessons about investment strategies and the investment process. (John H. Cochrane, The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business)

Andrew Ang's inspirational book presents new, important, and influential concepts on investment. He oozes enthusiasm for his subject, and generously shares his experience of putting cutting-edge ideas into practice. Elroy Dimson, London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School

Every professional asset manager should read Ang's Asset Management, easily the most thoughtfully written, accessible, and carefully researched treatment of the topic. Each chapter is an expertly guided tour. Darrell Duffie, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

Andrew Ang eloquently synthesizes current research on investing together with his own approach to asset management into a highly readable and authoritative book. It is simply the best new book on asset management that I have read - approachable by non-specialists and a treasure for managers and scholars already familiar with the topic. This book is an essential guide to one of the world's most important topics. (William N. Goetzmann, Yale School of Management)

It is no surprise that many of us have been using the unfinished chapters of Andrew Ang's Asset Management for teaching. For over 10 years, there has been glaring lacuna when it comes to textbooks for the teaching of investment finance. Andrew's book fills this void and is destined to become the standard text in investments at top graduate schools. It will also be a must-read for practitioners of investment finance. (Campbell R. Harvey, Duke University Journal of Finance (2006-2012))

This book is a comprehensive, accessible, and adept exposition of the pivotal role played by factor exposures in markets and in portfolio design. Ang shows how these principles can be used to guide both individual investors as well as institutions, and financial practitioners now have a must read source for this critical material. Steve Ross, Sloan School, MIT

Andrew Ang has written the next comprehensive 'go to' book on asset management. He treats readers gently as he takes them through the potentially technical world of factor investing, and his generous use of 'real world' case studies gives a helpful intuitive dimension his explanations. All considered, this is a 'must read' book for all asset owners and managers who want to maintain their thought-leadership edge. (Keith Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus, International Centre for Pension Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto)

The last time I was asked to comment on a book of this quality and applicability I threatened to harm the author for potentially putting me out of a job. I repeat the threat in this case. (Cliff Asness, Founder, Managing Principal, and Chief Investment Officer, AQR Capital Management)

As Andrew Ang knows, the best way to achieve good investment results is to get the portfolio structure right for each client and the key to that is systematic factor investing. Charles D. Ellis, author of Winning the Loser's Game

About the Author

Andrew Ang is the Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. He is a financial economist whose work centers on understanding the nature of risk and return in asset prices. His work spans bond markets, equities, asset management and portfolio allocation, and alternative investments. Prof. Ang has served as associate editor for several leading journals, and he has received grants from various government and industry organizations. He has consulted for several financial institutions, most often the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. Prof. Ang received a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from Macquarie University, Sydney, and a Masters of Statistics and PhD in Finance from Stanford University.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0199959323
• ISBN 13: 9780199959327
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 720