num_pages: 208
description: The final word on passive vs. active investing.The debate on active investing-stock picking and market timing-versus passive investing-markets are highly efficient and almost impossible to outperform-has raged for decades. Which side is right? In The Quest for Alpha: The Holy Grail of Investing author Larry E. Swedroe puts an end to the debate proving once and for all that active investing is likely to prove futile as the associated expenses-costs fees and time spent analyzing individual stocks and the overall market-are likely to exceed any benefits gained. The book presents research data and quotations that reveal it's extremely difficult to outperform the market.Explains why investors should focus on asset allocation fund construction costs tax efficiency and the building of a globally diversified portfolio that minimizes if not eliminates the taking of idiosyncratic uncompensated risks.Investors are on a never-ending search for a money manager who will deliver returns above the appropriate risk-adjusted benchmark aka the Holy Grail of Investing.The Quest for Alpha demonstrates that it's a loser's game-while it's possible to win it's so unlikely that you shouldn't try.
language: English
title: The Quest for Alpha: The Holy Grail of Investing
publisher: Bloomberg Press