The Art of Value Investing - (Wiley Finance) by John Heins & Whitney Tilson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"I learned the investment business largely from the work and thinking of other investors. The Art of Value Investing is a thoughtfully organized compilation of some of the best investment insights I have ever read. Read this book with care. It will be one of the highest-return investments you will ever make."

Based on interviews with the world's most-successful value investors, The Art of Value Investing offers a comprehensive set of answers to the questions every equity money manager should have thought through clearly before holding himself or herself out as a worthy steward of other people's money. What market inefficiencies will I try to exploit? How will I generate ideas? What will be my geographic focus? What analytical edge will I hope to have? What valuation methodologies will I use? What time horizon will I typically employ? How many stocks will I own? How specifically will I decide to buy or sell? Will I hedge, and how? How will I keep my emotions from getting the best of me?

Who should read The Art of Value Investing? It is as vital a resource for the just starting out investor as for the sophisticated professional one. The former will find a comprehensive guidebook for defining a sound investment strategy from A-to-Z; the latter will find all aspects of his or her existing practice challenged or reconfirmed by the provocative thinking of their most-successful peers. It also is a must read for any investor - institutional or individual - charged with choosing the best managers for the money they are allocating to equities. Choosing the right managers requires knowing all the right questions to ask as well as the answers worthy of respect and attention - both of which are delivered in The Art of Value Investing.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Art of Value Investing

"I learned the investment business largely from the work and thinking of other investors. The Art of Value Investing is a thoughtfully organized compilation of some of the best investment insights I have ever read. Read this book with care. It will be one of the highest-return investments you will ever make."
--William A. Ackman, founder, Pershing Square Capital Management

"An outstanding addition to the volumes written on value investing. Not only do the authors offer their own valuable insights but they have provided in one publication invaluable insights from some of the most accomplished professionals in the investment business. I would call this publication a must-read for any serious investor."
--Leon G. Cooperman, founder, Chairman and CEO, Omega Advisors

"In this treasure chest of quotes by proven money managers, it is the love of the game and the joy of meeting the challenges put forth by a very demanding business that captivated me. The lessons are like scars and they are revealed here firsthand."
--Jeff Ubben, founder, ValueAct Capital

"A must-read for any serious investor. John and Whitney have produced a veritable bible that reveals the secrets of some of the greatest contemporary investment minds in the world."
--Jonathon S. Jacobson, founder and CIO, Highfields Capital Management

"There's hard-won wisdom on every page from a who's who of value investors. If you want to understand the thinking behind their long-term success, The Art of Value Investing will be valuable reading."
--David Herro, Harris Associates

"John Heins and Whitney Tilson have put together an incredibly well-compiled set of thoughts, many from my favorite peers, on every important topic for investors."
--Staley Cates, President and CIO, Southeastern Asset Management

"I often judge a book by how many times I get my highlighter out and dog-ear pages. On that metric, this book is wonderful--simply packed with insight from some of the best long-term investors. Everyone will learn something from this book."
--James Montier, GMO

Review Quotes

"John Heins and Whitney Tilson, co-founders of the Value Investor Insight newsletter, have done a thorough job of explaining how to look for stocks that are trading at significant discounts to what they are worth -- the concept known as the value style of investing....the authors present a clear framework for ferreting out undervalued companies."
--The New York Times

"[The Art of Value Investing] is packed with invaluable insights and is relevant to both the novice and the experienced investor. ...This book provides a valuable contribution to the industry literature on value investing. It is well written, well organized, and quite enjoyable. The Art of Value Investing should be read by all investors who are seriously interested in enhancing their understanding of this important field."
--CFA Institute Book Review

About the Author

JOHN HEINS is the cofounder and President of Value Investor Media, Inc., a media company founded in 2004 to provide investing ideas and insight to sophisticated professional and individual investors, and Editor-in-Chief of Value Investor Insight and SuperInvestor Insight. Previously, Mr. Heins was President and Chief Executive Officer of Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing, Bertelsmann AG's U.S. magazine subsidiary, Senior Vice President and General Manager of America Online's Personal Finance business, and a reporter and staff writer for Forbes magazine. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School with a bachelor's degree in Economics and also holds an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

WHITNEY TILSON is the cofounder of hedge funds Kase Capital and T2 Partners, the Tilson Mutual Funds, Value Investor Media, Inc. and the Value Investing Congress. He coauthored the book, More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times, is a CNBC Contributor, has written for Forbes, the Financial Times, Kiplinger's, the Motley Fool and TheStreet.com, and was one of the authors of Poor Charlie's Almanack, the definitive book on Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. He was one of five investors included in SmartMoney's 2006 "Power 30," and was named by Institutional Investor in 2007 as one of "20 Rising Stars." Previously, Mr. Tilson was a founding member of Teach for America and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in Government.