Opportunity Investing by Gerald Appel



I picked up this book with the intention of gaining more insight to fine tune my unit trust investment, and I get more than what wanted.

This book has a very good coverage on unit trust investment, from investor's objective, not those academic study that is difficult to put into practical use. It covers the need and ways of diversification, construction of "winning portfolio", selection of unit trusts and their re-balance.

I learnt the most this the duo period performance ranking instead of the usual single period ranking I have seen in many places, and the rebalancing to be done. Interestingly, recently I attended a seminar by Fundsupermart.com and the presenter table a usual portfolio rebalancing strategy [click], I compare the two and notice that the Gerald Appel's way is more logical, profitable and less volatile. Though these methods may not be perfect, but it sure sound logical and the author has provided some back testing to back up. It is also easy to do personalization to suit individuals's circumstances.

The book does not stop here, it dedicates a chapter each to each possible components in the portfolio, giving some tips and insight. The topics covers include fixed income investing, junk bonds, exchange traded funds, REITS, emerging markets, close end funds. It also give some consideration on market timing, cycles, and inflations. Those these tips may not be comprehensive, but it is good enough for someone who is trying to get a better return from his fund.

To me, this book almost like the bible of technical analysis: Technical Analysis Of The Financial Markets by John Murphy. It may not be specific enough on each of the specific subject, but it is comprehensive enough for a unit trust investor to chew on for a long time.

I strongly suggest those who are in unit trusts to get hold of a copy.