The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need: The Good, the Flawed, the Bad, and the Ugly

by Larry E. Swedroe, Jared Kizer

The rewards of carefully chosen alternative investments can be great. But many investors don’t know enough about unfamiliar investments to make wise choices.   For that reason, financial advisers Larry Swedroe and Jared Kizer designed this book to bring investors up to speed on the twenty most popular alternative investments:

Real estate, Inflation-protected securities, Commodities, International equities, Fixed annuities, Stable-value funds, High-yield (junk) bonds, Private equity (venture capital), Covered calls, Socially responsible mutual funds, Precious metals equities, Preferred stocks, Convertible bonds, Emerging market bonds, Hedge funds, Leveraged buyouts, Variable annuities, Equity-indexed annuities, Structured investment products, Leveraged funds  

The authors describe how the investments work, the pros and cons of each, which to consider, which to avoid, and how to get started. Swedroe and Kizer evaluate each investment in terms of: Expected returns Volatility Distribution of returns Diversification potential Fees Trading and operating expenses Liquidity Tax efficiency Account location Role in an asset-allocation program 

Any investor who is considering or just curious about investment opportunities outside the traditional world of stocks, bonds, and bank certificates of deposit would be well-advised to read this book.

Genres: Finance, Business, Money

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2008

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book illustrating the good, the bad and the ugly with different alternative investments. Data goes through 2007 so I would love an update through today. This is a good reference book also.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, but by now, incomplete. Many innovations from cryptocurrency to peer-to-peer investing to shares in art have been made possible since this works publication.

Its conclusions are accurate, its insights useful, and its insistence on viewing investments for how they fit in a portfolio, correct.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but dry as the desert.

[JJ Cylk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this over 5 years ago. I got better info from Motley Fools.

[Brad Pruitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent reference.

[Jason Zhao · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a simple concise guide to the different investment options available to investors. The sample portfolios provide keen insight on how combinations of assets perform together. Very helpful in helping readers create a more balanced portfolio.