Even if you’ve heard of it, odds are you know very little about Capital Group Companies–even though Capital Group, like Vanguard, is one of the world’s largest investment management organizations and decade after decade, consistently earns the respect and admiration of its clients and competitors by achieving superior investment results and striving to be among the best at everything it does. While the firm has always shunned publicity, for the first time it has given best-selling author Charles Ellis access to tell the inside story of the firm’s “excellence found in investment management.” Ellis has spent 8 years researching and writing this book. Despite being publicity shy as a firm, Capital manages money for 80% of the largest American institutions, and managed four of America’s 10 largest mutual funds, making it one of the largest managers of mutual funds and institutional accounts. Far more important, Capital Group has achieved superior long-term investment results–over 5, 10, 20, and 30 year periods. It is a top quartile performer for large mutual funds, for institutional investors, and across markets such as domestic equities, bonds, international equities, and emerging market equities. How can a firm be “the best of the best” across such a wide swath of markets? Ellis takes you inside one of the most elite and private investment firms out there–a value investment firm par excellence. He discusses the corporate culture and long-term investment strategies that have made Capital “the one organization where most investment professionals would most like to work and would most recommend as long-term investment managers for their family and friends and college endowments.” This is the untold Capital story.
Book Details:
- Author: Charles D. Ellis
- ISBN: 9780471650874
- Year Published: 2004
- Pages: 336
- BISAC: BUS036000, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Investments & Securities / General
About the Book and Topic:
Even if you’ve heard of it, odds are you know very little about Capital Group Companies–even though Capital Group, like Vanguard, is one of the world’s largest investment management organizations and decade after decade, consistently earns the respect and admiration of its clients and competitors by achieving superior investment results and striving to be among the best at everything it does. While the firm has always shunned publicity, for the first time it has given best-selling author Charles Ellis access to tell the inside story of the firm’s “excellence found in investment management.” Ellis has spent 8 years researching and writing this book. Despite being publicity shy as a firm, Capital manages money for 80% of the largest American institutions, and managed four of America’s 10 largest mutual funds, making it one of the largest managers of mutual funds and institutional accounts. Far more important, Capital Group has achieved superior long-term investment results–over 5, 10, 20, and 30 year periods. It is a top quartile performer for large mutual funds, for institutional investors, and across markets such as domestic equities, bonds, international equities, and emerging market equities. How can a firm be “the best of the best” across such a wide swath of markets? Ellis takes you inside one of the most elite and private investment firms out there–a value investment firm par excellence. He discusses the corporate culture and long-term investment strategies that have made Capital “the one organization where most investment professionals would most like to work and would most recommend as long-term investment managers for their family and friends and college endowments.” This is the untold Capital story.
The Capital story begins in 1929 as Jonathan Bell Lovelace, recognizing stocks are seriously overpriced, liquidates his investments, resigns from the stockbrokerage in which he is a partner, and moves to Los Angeles where he sets up a small research-based financial advisory firm. In 1932, not yet 40, he agrees to manage Investment Company of America which had lost 70% of its value in the Crash and again and again, achieves superior results. Intent on using research to produce consistently superior results, Lovelace developed an unusually effective core group that soon includes his son Jon Lovelace, who leads Capital to professional excellence and global business leadership, growing from $5,000,000 to 100,000 times that size: over $500 billion. Along with Vanguard, Capital Group has become a firm known for its investment acumen, its unique investment “culture,” and as a pioneer in global investing. Long term, it has delivered top quartile investment results for both institutional and individual investors.
AUTHOR HAS COMPLETE ACCESS. After over 70 years of deliberately avoiding publicity, Capital Group Companies has granted Charles Ellis complete access to tell their story. Capital has the best performance of any money manager over the long term, but no book has been written about the firm–until now. A CLASSIC, ALL-AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY based on persistent enterprise, superb professionalism, and the value of consistently principled business conduct. Over the past 5, 10, 20, and 40 year periods, the firm has been in the top quartile for large mutual funds, and top quartile for domestic equities, bonds, international equities, and emerging market equities. No firm can boast of similar performance across markets. ELLIS IS AN EXPERIENCED AUTHOR WITH A GREAT TRACK RECORD. Ellis’ Winning the Loser’s Game is regarded as a classic. This is his next important work on investment.
About the Author
Charles Ellis (New Haven, CT) is a recognized expert on investment management. For 30 years, he was Managing Partner of Greenwich Associates, the leading worldwide strategy consultant to the investment industry, where he developed close working relationships with senior executives at most of the major investment managers in America, Canada, England, Japan, Germany, and Australia. Other activities including teaching the Investment Management course at both Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School; chairing the investors’ professional organization, AIMR; serving as a Director of Vanguard; and chairing the investment committees at the Whitehead Institute and Yale University. Capital is his 11th book. His previous book, Winning the Loser’s Game, has sold over 250,000 copies.