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Index Funds
The 12-Step Program for Active Investors
Second Printing with 2006 Data - Hardcover
Available
at amazon.com
Four
color 415 pages (8.5 x 11"), hardcover
edition with dust jacket. Ninety-four original
paintings and 250 color graphics. It is the
most colorful and graphically pleasing book
ever written on this often dry subject. Destined
to become the first coffee table book on investing. |
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| Perspicacious (adjective);
1. The adjective perspicacious means acutely
insightful and wise; Synonyms: sagacious, sapient
2. Acute mental vision or discernment
per.spi.ca.cious.ly (adverb)
per.spi.ca.cious.ness (noun)
per.spi.cac.i.ty (noun) |
Book
Review Fact Sheet
 "Mark Hebner's magnificent book presents solid financial
theory and practice wrapped in an elegant package."
- Harry
Markowitz Ph.D., Nobel Laureate in Economics, “Father
of Modern Portfolio Theory," Professor of Economics at University
of California at San Diego, author
of Portfolio Selection: Efficient Diversification of Investments as
well as numerous other books, articles and papers.
"...a valuable reference; and it benefits from
your many perspicacious commentaries.
- Paul
A. Samuelson, Nobel
Laureate in Economics, M.I.T. Professor
of Economics.
"...an incredibly handsome and wise book.
We must be near a "tipping
point" of passive over active. Perhaps your
book will mark the moment. Congratulations!"
- John
C. Bogle, Founder and Past CEO of The Vanguard Group
11/3/05
"...it clearly gives good advice which is presented
in a very appealing manner. Congratulations on a very
nice piece of work."
- Burton
G. Malkiel, Professor of Economics, Princeton
University, author of A
Random Walk Down Wall Street: Completely Revised and
Updated Eighth Edition
"I have personally read hundreds of books on finance,
the stock market, and economic and financial history
(I read about 20 books a year on the subjects). Of course,
there are many fascinating well-written books, but I
can honestly say you really only need to read two or
three books to get started studying the science of finance
(Capital Ideas) and applying some of the principles
to your own benefit (The Intelligent Asset Allocator
or Mark Hebner's Index
Funds[: The 12-Step Program for Active Investors]- New!)"
- John P. Scordo, Esq. research-finance.com
"It is really beautiful [and] really well done.
I plan to use it as a reference guide."
- David
Booth, CEO, CIO and Co-Chairman, Dimensional Fund Advisors,
Inc.
"The best investment investors can make is Mark
Hebner's stunning new book. This book will adorn your
coffee table but its real value is enriching your life
with an unmatched wealth of information about the perils
of active management and the benefits of achieving market
returns through indexing and passive management."
-Dan Solin, author, Does
Your Broker Owe You Money?
"Mark Hebner's book deserves
a place on every coffee table in America." -Larry
Swedroe More
from Larry Swedroe and his
books.
"The more I study and learn
about your approach, the more I grow to appreciate its
elegance...This book explains the merits of passive
'index investing,' and why trying to choose hot stocks
is a fool's errand."
-Matt
Krantz, USA Today 5/17/05, 5/20/05,
7/13/05,
10/2/05 |
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About the book and author:
The financial services industry has a dark secret,
one that costs global investors about $2.5 trillion
per year (about 10% of the $25 trillion global equity
market.) This secret quietly drains the investment
portfolios and retirement accounts of almost every
investor. In 1900 French mathematician, Louis Bachelier,
unsuspectingly revealed this disturbing fact to the
world. Since then, hundreds of academic studies have
supported Bachelier's findings. Unfortunately, investors
pay little attention to academics and Nobel laureates.
The dark secret is that managers don't beat markets.
The fact is, markets outperform managers by a substantial
margin over long periods of time. This book offers
overwhelming proof of this, and shows investors how
to obtain their optimal rate of return by matching
their risk capacity to an appropriate risk exposure.
A globally diversified portfolio of index funds is
the optimal way to accomplish this. Index Funds:
The 12-Step Program for Active Investors is the treatment
of choice for wayward investors. Most investors continue
to embrace an active investing strategy, despite
the extensive academic research demonstrating its
futility.Speculating on the next winning stock, fund
manager, investment style or market timing are all
akin to gambling. Below market returns in investment
portfolios and pension accounts are the result of
investors gambling with their hard earned money.
This 12-Step Program will put active investors on
the road to recovery. Each step is designed to bring
investors closer to embracing a prudent and sound
strategy of buying, holding, and rebalancing an index
portfolio. |
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|  Mark
T. Hebner is the president of Index Funds Advisors in Irvine,
California. His flagship Web site, ifa.com, is considered
the leading Internet source of information on index funds.
Hebner has been founder, president and CEO of three companies,
one of which became a publicly held corporation. Hebner, a
successful businessman, has spent the past six years developing
this book and its companion Web site, ifa.com. Like many other
investors, his conversion to the index funds investment philosophy
began when he came to the realization that his own investment
portfolio was not performing anywhere near the market averages.
As he sees it, his own active investing strategy cost Hebner
a whopping $30 million. Since his discovery, he has worked
tirelessly to educate the investing public on the advantages
of investing in index funds. He led a team of over 60 writers,
artists, graphic designers, mathematicians, statisticians,
and researchers to build the Internet's most comprehensive
Web site on index funds. They then turned their attention
to creating this book. It is the most colorful and graphically
pleasing book ever written on this often dry subject. Forty-four
original oil paintings, created by Lala Ragimov, fifty original
water color portraits by Aftab Alam, and more than 250 color
graphics by Jackson Lin present nearly 80 years of current
and historic stock market data. This book is the culmination
of hundreds of years of academic research, and with it Hebner
hopes to cure the investing public of their active investing
behaviors. Because of the beautiful art work and creative
graphics it is destined to become the first coffee table book
on investing.
Reviews from Amazon.com.
From a reformed
pusher , November 9, 2005
| Reviewer: |
Petri R. (Finland) |
Having worked in the financial services industry
for over 20 years, I have known about our "dark
secret" for a while. Over the years I have provided
thousands of "addicts"
with their fixes, thinking if I don't, someone else
will. Now, having come out of the closet of "smoke
and mirrors", I can only hope that a book like
Mark Hebner's 12 Steps gets a huge following among
all types of investors. It wouldn't hurt many of
my colleagues in the industry to read it too. Who
knows, our profession might even get back some of
the respect which we have succeeded in loosing totally.
I am finally able to meet my clients with a straight
face.
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Can't Beat'em
...So Join'em , November 3, 2005
| Reviewer: |
R. Grey (Denver, CO) |
This is the last investment book that you need to
buy. This is the primer for index fund investing.
You can cancel your subscriptions to the Wall Street
Journal, Investor's Business Daily, Money magazine,
and Morningstar. The hunt for the Holy Grail of investing
is over. Individual investors will understand why
their mutual funds and stocks never produce the "advertised" returns.
More importantly, they will understand what they
need to do to capture the predicatable performance
of the financial markets, and sleep at night. |
Finally a rigorous and honest investment guide,
April 21, 2006
Reviewer: Benjamin L. Brinkerhoff (San Diego)
I'm an economist and statistician and have been looking for
an honest and ethical guide to investing for some time. This
book offers a thorough review of 75 years of rigourous academic
research on the topic investing. He proves through numbers and
evidence the wisdom and peace of mind that can come through
a passive investing methodology where risks are properly accounted.
This book will teach you the necessities of investing in
a non-pretentious way and educate you so you can avoid wall
streets marketing campigns and greedy commissions and fees.
I recommend this book to any new investor and any seasoned
investor unfortunate to be stuck with a full brokerage firm.
You will not be dissapointed.
A
must ! , October 17, 2005
| Reviewer: |
Bogdan Sabac (Princeton NJ USA) |
I received the book a few days ago. One of the best
books on investing out there! A must read for beginners
as well as experienced investors. Each of the 12
steps reveals time tested and data backed advice
on how to become a successful investor.
The book has it all from explaining serious pitfalls
of investing such as stock picking and market timing
to data backed examples on how to construct a diversified
portfolio for maximum returns.
Follow the advice in the book and you will most likely
beat 90% of the professional money manages in the
next 20 years.
Regards, Bogdan Sabac |
This
Book Is A Classic! , October 17, 2005
| Reviewer: |
Daniel R. Solin (Bonita Springs, FL) |
Mark Hebner continues the service he has performed
so well for investors that started with his outstanding
web page www.ifa.com. In this book, he takes much
of the material that can be found on his web page
and puts it in his book, in an easy to understand,
and overwhelmingly convincing manner. It is impossible
to believe that any objective person reading this
book could fail to be convinced that the investing
public continues to be deceived by the financial
services industry. I would urge every investor to
buy this beautifully designed book, read it carefully
and implement the investment philosophy explained
with such care and precision in it. Not only will
investors reap the rewards of being in the top 5%
or so of all professionally managed money over the
long term, but they will have the satisfaction of
knowing that they will no long fall prey to the avarice
of the brokerage community and other advisors who
profess to have skills that neither they, nor anyone
else, possess. Daniel R. Solin, author, Does Your
Broker Owe You Money? |
The Atheistic Investor, August 12, 2006
| Reviewer: |
Dustin C. Stiefel (Dallas, TX) |
After 12 years in the industry as a "financial advisor",
I set out to discover what I really believed. I started my
search as an "Atheistic Investor" as if I believed
in none of the mainstream theories. After finishing Mark's
book I saw the light. I realized I had been living a lie
for the past decade convincing clients that I, combined with
the right fund manager, could beat the markets. I now realize
the true efficiencies of the market and have completely transformed
my business and practice. This book and it's clear principles
are a must read for everyone in our industry.
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