| Summary: |
Based on many years of practical experience, Guy Fraser-Sampson describes how many of the world's large institutional investors operate entirely without any proper strategic plan. Even more worryingly, most have never even discussed basic strategic issues, or have any clear understanding of what strategy actually is. Instead all too often, thinking at the strategic level is simply skipped and some arbitrary target return is chosen, perhaps based on peer benchmarking. This book offers a totally new approach to Investment Strategy based not just on the author's own experience but also on his ground-breaking business school module for MBA students. It shows not only how the process should be taken forward within an organisation, but all the traps which lurk in wait for the unwary. In particular it explains how to apply emotional intelligence to the investment strategy process since it is usually behavioural issues, whether individual or organisational, which get in the way. As well as offering practical guidance on the setting of investment strategy the book considers different approaches which can be adopted in practice including risk exposure investing, trend following, and Multi Asset Class investing. Whatever the approach, however, the book's central theme is that there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" solution. The closing chapters give some insight into what the future might hold for investors and investment managers alike, including a frank assessment of the possible risks posed by government and central bank actions. It also takes a robustly sceptical view of the traditional financial treatment of concepts such as liquidity, volatility and rational investors. |