Wizards of Wall Street: Market-Beating Insights and Strategies from the Worlds Top-Performing Mutual Fund Managers

by Kirk Kazanjian

Eighteen of the world's most successful mutual fund managers explain how they consistently outperform the S&P 500 index, tracing their careers and offering a candid look at their stock-picking strategies.

359 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Bernard Sia · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) Do ur homework. business is everything
2) add or delete. if you don't intend to add shares after a bad quarter, dump the shares.
3) if the fundamentals are bad. dump the share.
4) when there's fraud, IMMEDIATELY dump the share
5) calculate forward earnings based on growth

[Kevin Vazquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I picked this up thinking it was a different book but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it contained an insightful look into the minds of some of the most long lasting fund managers in the industry. Reading this as of 2023, it was very surprising to find that pretty much all the funds in the book are still active. Not to say that they've all been as successful in beating SPY as of the time of the interviews, but there's something that can be said to the longevity of these funds that could've easily been swept away by the market at any point. This book won't teach you how to invest but has guiding principals on how to think about the market. It's definitely worth the read.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

one surprising thing in this book

if you don't intend to buy more shares after a bad quarter, dump your shares

[Joel Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fred Alger can only devote 50% of his time to investing. 30% is spent marketing and 20% is administrative. Rapid growth is important. Price is less important.

American Online was Alex Brown Investment Management's top holding in 1999.

Glen Bickerstaff - Scale is more important in low inflation years as productivity gains become more important for growth. Concentrates his portfolio because there aren't that many great businesses out there.

James Callinan - mortgage loans have grown at 10% pa for the past 90 years.

Ronald Canakaris - combines earnings momentum with valuation in a disciplined manner.

Chris Davis - looks for companies with good management, high ROC, strong BS, low cost operators, dominant market shares, successful international operations and high quality earnings. If we have to get out to year 8 or 10 before we cross the line of the RFR its a worry. Very few businesses have LT growth rates greater than 12-14%pa. The reason the S&P500 is hard to beat is that it never sells its winners. If you are in a great company, run by a great manager you can't imagine how far it will go.

Warren Lambert - everyone you talk to re a company is biased.

Kevin Landis - his tech fund was the best performing fund in the 5 years to 1999. Beat the market by 28% pa since 94 inception. Some markets are more efficient than others - forex is efficient, used car markets are not.

Neil Miller - At Fidelity there is no stringent investment process - every PM has his own style.

[Stephen Hedlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book is a little dated (the investors interviewed discuss what impact they think the "new" internet will have on the market), I believe the fundamentals of great investing are still the same. I learned a great deal, and have many more ideas to add to my tool kit.

[Azam Azid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went straight to the conclusion after read three biographies. Will read again if my career asks me so. P.s. I bought this book for RM10 at Big Bad Wolf.