Kirk Kazanjian
1 Major disappointment
I'm not sure I found one worthwhile idea in this book.
2 Only Book of Its Kind
This is really a one of a kind book. Full of advice from the best value investors in the world. I learned so much about stock analysis and valuation from these gurus. The author does an excellent job of getting them to open up and explain their process in a way that can be understood by all. Truly an excellent piece of work.
3 I would rate this a "sell"
I bought this book hoping to learn some real insights. What I learned is that this author understands little about investing, and doesn't have a clue how to ask the right questions.
4 Horrible execution
You're in front of some of the greatest investors of our time and you ask them what a P/E is?
5 How did this get published?
A quick review of this book: Weak answers to bad questions.
6 Must reading for investors of all types
While I'm an advocate of the value investing approach, this book is essential reading for all investors (even believers in growth). The author has put together a very eclectic group of outstanding investors. He presents them with excellent questions, and gets them to reveal in detail how they choose stocks. While I took several investment courses in college, I found the advice in this book to be more valuable than anything I learned in school. It's the kind of book you'll want to read, underline, and re-read many times throughout your investment life.
7 Disappointment
While reading this book I kept asking myself "why couldn't this author think of better questions to ask?" and "why couldn't he get these "masters" to share more of their secrets?" This book was awful.
8 Best Modern Day Value Investing Book on the Market
As a big believer in value investing, I have read most of the books on this subject out there. This was by far the most interesting and helpful I've found. It gives you the collective strategies of 20 top value investors. Kazanjian is an excellent interviewer and writer, who gets the managers to reveal their techniques in a way that's easy to understand. I think this book is also appropriate for new investors who want to learn more about what value investing is all about.
9 awful awful awful
this is the worst investing book i have ever read. this guy managed to get 20 great investors like Marty Whitman to participate. . .and the best he could do was ask every single person the same dumb questions about P/E ratio and book value. what a painful and frustrating read. kazanjian manages to pull nothing insightful, nothing interesting, and nothing even remotely personal out of these interviews. this is an awful book that gives us nothing but 20 case-studies in bad journalism.
10 Great Articles, Okay Book
The value of this book is somewhat easy to state: it shows how successful investors, invest--allowing, hopefully, the careful reader a more likely chance of doing the same. If the purpose, so stated, was executed perfectly, this book would be a steal at any price.
Unfortunately, the above can not be said with regards to this book--at least not said objectively.
The reason is not because the author does not ask good questions--in fact, he asks great questions. In each of the twenty interviews, you'll learn what essentially each different investor's approach to investing is and then learn how they implement that each day. (This includes how they get stock ideas, how they follow through with a buy--or not--and when they'll decide to sell a particluar equity if ever.)
Interestingly enough, the major factor responsible for this book not delivering on the value it potentially has to offer is one of concentration. The book, focusing as it does on twenty different investors, never gets a chance to go into a lot of detail with any of them. The result is that readers get just a superficial glimpse at what made them successful but not enough to understand what they did well enough to duplicate it for themselves.
11 Insight from Successful Money Managers
This book is a very compelling analysis of 20 highly recognized value investors. The author interviews these investors with similar summary questions. Generally, he tracked their history of how they got into the investment business, how they developed their philosophy, a summary of how they analyze stocks, and any insight they would like to add about their approach. With the questions being similar to each manager, you are able to compare unique journeys by which the investors ended up as value investors. Most of the managers were very similar in their belief that investors have internal philosophies about value investing and you either get it or you don't. But the paths taken by the managers into investing were all different. It was very intriguing that not many grew up wanting to be value investors but rather in many cases just fell into it.
As a proponent of value investing I did not find a particular analytical tool that will change my evaluation method. But I did see how different managers could look at the same problem and see different outcomes. In addition, I heavily marked specific passages to refer back. I intend to research some of the investors in further depth and track changes in their portfolios looking for ideas.
I'm surprised the book was so poorly received by so many. I learned quite a bit, found the format to be helpful and look forward to following these investors in more depth. I've come to the conclusion that there is no book that answers all the questions novice stock investors may have but rather it is a slow journey where you pick up investing nuggets along the way.
12 A Wonderful Tome
This book provides a fascinating introduction, in a standardized format, to these great value investors. I highly recommend it.
13 I returned this book
I expected far more than what this book had to offer. Surprisingly, the author didn't really ask questions that examined and probed these successful value managers. This was really a shame because he had their attention, and he had my money before I returned the book.
14 Great interviews
The author does a great job of getting these gurus to reveal all. Anyone interested in learning how to find value in the current market will benefit from this book.
15 very good interviews
I normally don't like interview-based books, but this one was excellent. Kazanjian is a very good interviewer who asks tough questions and avoids self-congratulatory chit-chat with the managers. I felt like I really learned how the experts choose stocks and got enough information to apply these techniques on my own. I also liked reading about how the gurus came to work on Wall Street. Several of them have fascinating backgrounds.
16 Fantastic Investment Insights
I bought this book after hearing the author interviewed on KGO radio. He was very impressive, and so is this book. Lots of excellent investment insights on how to be a better investor from those who know. While the focus is value investing, I found that the information applies well to all types of investing in all markets. It's also a good read for mutual fund investors to learn more about how to pick good managers. It's clear the author really knows what he's talking about.
17 Where's the Beef?
The author picked some great money managers. He could have picked better questions to ask them. I would think that as long as you're in front of these stars you would ask some intriguing questions and seek their insights. Without the right questions and probing, you'll never find their secrets.
18 Not worth the money
I have read all the investing books, and this might be the worst. My favorite one is: "Secrets of the Wealth Makers: Top Money Managers Reveal Their Investing Wisdom"--at least the author knows what he's talking about.
19 Nothing Profound
It is a bit promotional, giving the interviewees a chance to boast. I didn't like the interview format because the author didn't ask in-depth questions.
20 Got this for graduation
I got this book for graduation and enjoyed every page of it. I learned a lot about how professional investors choose stocks, and it put what's going on in the current market into better context for me. The profiles are all concise and to the point, and I was surprised about how much the managers were willing to reveal about how they uncover investments. (By the way, I was reading through some of the other reviews. It seems like one person keeps writing the same unfounded negative review over and over. Unfortunately, it's clear this person hasn't read the book. It has nothing to do with technology stocks or the bubble.)
21 There is little substance in this book
These were more conversations than interviews. Who wants to read chit-chat? There is little substance in this book.
22 essential primer on value investing
If you are interested in value investing, I find this book to be essential reading. It provides an overview of many different strategies that all lead to the same end...consistent stock returns over the long term. I'm an MBA student and found the advice in the book to be far better than anything I've read in textbooks so far.
23 Right on the money
One of the best investment books I've read in a long time. Thankfully it doesn't focus on tech stocks and the tech bubble like so many other books. The information is just right for the current market environment, yet the strategies will work well in all markets. I also liked that the author really focused on getting the managers to lay out their strategies in very precise terms.
24 Enjoyable even for New Investors
I bought this book after seeing it highly recommended in a few financial publications. Even though I'm pretty new to investing, I found it to be very easy to understand and an enjoyable read. I especially liked learning about how the managers refined their investment techniques and learned from their mistakes over the years. It gave me a good feel for how to pick stocks and funds. Far better than most of the other investment books I have read lately. I also enjoyed the discussions on indexing, since I currently use index funds.
25 Best investment book I've read in a long time
I found this to be a very good book on not only value investing, but investing in general. I don't think some of the other reviewers have read the book, based on some of the other reviews. There is very little mention of technology stocks, other than in the context of whether they are values after the bubble. And the information is very timely, and even looks at investing in this post September 11 world. I found the book to be full of timeless investment insights, and Kazanjian has the masters update much of what was previously written about value investing by Graham and Dodd.
26 Nothing insightful about this book
With some great managers interviewed, one would think there would be more substantial content. I don't know about other readers but who wants to read more about the technology bubble?
27 There are better books out there
I found little value when reading this book. In particular, I was looking for deeper information, such as investment philosophies. Instead there was more chit-chat and technology-stock investing info, which is dated and of little use now. I like Schwagger's interviews better.
28 Excellent Book and Very Timely
I found this book to be an excellent overview of both value investing and what's going on in the market today. Value is the only strategy that has been working in recent years. More importantly, it has stood the test of time. That's probably why Buffett practices it. This book presents candid strategies from lots of long-time legends, including Martin Whitman, Bill Miller, Charles Royce, and David Dreman. But it also includes interviews with several younger value investors. It's full of valuable insights that every serious investor looking to make money in this market should read. I highly recommend it. You might also check out Kazanjian's other interview-based book "Wizards of Wall Street," which is also an insightful read.
29 Big Disappointment
I was hoping for some real insights into these professionals. Instead I read about the current markets of two years ago!
30 I was very disappointed
This book doesn't have any substantial information--it focuses too much on current markets, which was a year or two ago when it was written.
