Bill DeShurko

A book review by Jim Kilgore CFP® and Bill DeShurko

There are thousands of books on the market aimed at individual investors who are attempting to go it alone and invest on their own.  Whether that be for retirement or some other financial goal, investing is a challenge… because the market does not always go up!

In Why Bad Things Happen To Good Investments, William Hepburn walks the reader through some of the most important concepts to understand regarding investing and managing risk.  He explains why buying a basket of stocks, mutual funds, or ETF’s and holding them forever does not always have the intended result and gives many examples where an active investment strategy can be superior to the buy and hold strategy.

We are in the business of investing and financial planning and we have read hundreds of books on investing over the years.  Mr. Hepburn’s writing style is such that anyone can read this book and understand the concepts he is trying to teach.  The book truly is written to the amateur investor looking to educate themselves on how to do it wisely.  Mr. Hepburn does not use a ton of heavy math and statistics and he is still able to explain things concisely. That said, there is much information in here for the experienced professional and individual alike.

Jim: One of the quotes I really enjoyed from the book was the following “There is an old saying on Wall Street that bulls can make money and bears can make money, but pigs and sheep get slaughtered.  The way to protect yourself from these emotional risks is to have systems and the discipline to stick with them.”

I think my favorite part of the book is how Mr. Hepburn explains to the reader over and over how Wall Street says one thing to the individual investor about how to invest, but does something entirely different with their own money.  If for no other reason, you need to read this book about how Wall Street does not have your best interest in mind, but rather their own. (Bill: especially if you think you are learning anything useful from watching the “business” news channels all day!)

Chapters 16 and 17 on Hedging and stops are invaluable to helping an individual investor and professionals alike limit the downside in their portfolios and is worth the price of the book by itself.

Bill: I’d also add that I first met Mr. Hepburn at an investment conference back in the 1990’s when you were a pariah in the industry if you recommended anything but buy and holding Morningstar ranked 5 star mutual funds. Well before that strategy was debunked, Will was a leader in the field of active portfolio management in the independent investment advisor arena.

As investment professionals, we highly encourage both do it yourself investors and those working with advisors to read this book. We don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Remember:

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Mr. DeShurko is the Managing Member of 401 Advisor, LLC an independent registered investment advisor. Jim Kilgore is an Investment Advisor Representative of 401 Advisor, LLC. They are also  registered representatives of Ceros Financial Services, Inc. (Member FINRA/SIPC).  Ceros is not affiliated with 401 Advisor.  The views expressed are those of Mr. DeShurko and do not necessarily reflect those of Ceros Financial Services, Inc., its employees or affiliates.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.  There is no guarantee that any investment or strategy will generate a profit or prevent a loss.