The Art of Execution: How the world’s best investors get it wrong and still make millions by Lee Freeman-Shor

published 11 March 2016

The Art of Execution: How the world's best investors get itwrong and still make millions

by Lee Freeman-ShorPublished by Harriman House, £19.99

The polite approach to reviewing a bookis to begin with what it does well, andonly later go on to hint gently at where itfalls short. But in the case of The Art ofExecution, that's difficult not becauseit's a bad book, but because there simplyisn't enough of it to justify the rathersteep £19.99 price tag. It stretches to 175pages (plus some end notes) only withthe aid of a rather large typeface andplenty of white space. Lest that soundlike an exaggeration, I read it in abouttwo hours without difficulty. So let's be blunt: it's impossible torecommend that anybody buy a copy at full price.

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That's a pity, because the book also offers some decent insightsand case studies. As well as investigating how his investorsmanaged losing trades, Freeman-Shor looks at how thesame group dealt with the tricky question of when to takeprofits on successful ones. Ultimately, the message of thebook is to cut losers and run winners familiar advice, butFreeman-Shor does a good job of showing why that approachmakes sense, while also explaining why it's so hard formost people to stick to it.

Overall, this is an easy read and itsconclusions are sensible. What's missing and could havehelped to justify the cost is more concrete guidance on howto implement the advice successfully. Experienced investorswon't find much new here, but newer investors could definitelybenefit from picking up a cheap, used copy once they startappearing on Amazon.

The Art of Execution: How the world's best investors get itwrong and still make millions by Lee Freeman-Shor, HarrimanHouse (£19.99).

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.