Over seven years, 45 of the world’s top investors were given between $25m and $150m to invest by fund manager Lee Freeman-Shor

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Fund Manager Lee Freeman-Shor Reveals How Top Investors Make Money Even Though Their Ideas Are Wrong Most Of The Time – The Art of Execution: How the World’s Best Investors Get It Wrong and Still Make Millions

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WHAT – Over seven years, 45 of the world's top investors were given between $25m and $150m to invest by fund manager Lee Freeman-Shor. His instructions were simple. There was only one rule. They could only invest in their ten best ideas to make money.

RESULT – Most of the ideas failed.

SURPRISE – These investors still made a lot of money despite being wrong most of the time.

HOW? – They all have one thing in common, they had mastered the art of executing ideas.

The answer lay in their hidden habits of execution, which until now have only been guessed at from the outside world.

The Art of Execution lays bare those secret habits for the first time, explaining them with real-life data, case studies and stories taken from Freeman-Shor's unique position of managing these investors on a day-to-day basis.

Lee Freeman-Shor says:

“I’ve always had an interest in cognitive biases. This is what got me thinking, ‘what if the key to success is all to do with how an investor executes their decisions’. The logic being that poor investors are poor decision makers due to succumbing to behavioral traps, while great investors have habits that overcome this bias and therefore make good decisions and get great outcomes. I believe that it is because so little attention, other than lip service, is paid to executing ideas that this is why no one really appreciates how important it is. In finance most effort is still spent on research, forecasting, and market timing.”

The Art of Execution is a riveting read for investors of every level. This book reveals exactly what to do and what not to do when your big idea is losing or winning - and demonstrates conclusively why the most important thing about investing is always the art of execution.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Lee Freeman-Shor currently manages over $1bn in High Alpha and Multi-Asset strategies. Lee was ranked as one of the world's top fund managers in Citywire 1000 in 2012. He has been AAA rated by Citywire, Gold rated by S&P Capital IQ fund research and is Bronze rated by Morningstar OBSR.

He has been at Old Mutual Global Investors since October 2005 and was previously Co-Head of Equity Research. Prior to that, Lee worked for Schroders, Winterthur and in private client wealth management and has over 16 years investment experience. Lee holds the Investment Management Certificate and has an LL.B (Hons) law degree From Nottingham Trent University.

The Art of Execution: How the World's Best Investors Get It Wrong and Still Make Millions by Lee Freeman-Shor

Review
"I am often asked by graduate students what books I have read that I could recommend they read to make the students better investors. My answer generally is that the student should read the Intelligent Investor and the Reminiscences of a Stock Operator; I will now add your book to the short list for students to read...I wish I had read this book thirty years ago!" - Dennis M. Bryan, Partner at FPA and a legendary investor in the USA.;"I truly enjoyed reading your book. Not often I read a book that has so many relevant real-life examples. I also enjoyed reading the quotes - very appropriate. You summarize a winning strategy in a very concise manner while backing it up with both examples and data. It is a must read for all managers and allocators. I will order my copy right away and will send some to our clients". - Arik Ahitov, Managing Director and fund manager at FPA;"There are many styles to investing as there are ways to go through life, but the person who knows his character, and is knowing of his environment and his investment horse, is the one that wins over the long term, provided that he is asked to make defined decisions, which strip the investor of his natural inclination to hedge his bets." - Crispin Odey, hedge fund manager, founding partner of Odey Asset Management;"An enjoyable and thought provoking read, from somebody with the real life evidence to back up the findings. An easy to read and enlightening study of behavioural finance, brought to life with real life experiences". - Kevin Lilley, Europe ex UK fund manager, Old Mutual global Investors.;"I really enjoyed reading it, although I have to say it was in some respects a chastening experience as - in spite of best efforts - there are times when I lapse into some of the negative behaviours you identify. I think the insights are terrific though and it will serve as an 'internal voice of conscience' forcing me to scrutinise execution and timing more thoroughly" - Daniel Nickols, fund manager and Head of UK Small and Mid-Cap equities, Old Mutual Global Investors;"As investors we all know that we should let the winners run and cut the losers. The question is how this works in practice in investment management. Freeman-Shor provides a comprehensive framework how to deal with losing positions and how to make winning positions have a big positive impact on your portfolio returns. A great read for investment novices and professionals alike". - Dirk Enderlein, partner and fund manager at Wellington;"With a unique insight into the day to day behaviours of some of the world's best fund managers Lee Freeman-Shor draws out some invaluable lessons for both the private and professional investor and lays bare the behavioural pitfalls we are all subject to in executing our investment ideas" - James Inglis-Jones, fund manager at Liontrust

About the Author
Lee Freeman-Shor currently manages over $1bn in High Alpha and Multi-Asset strategies. Lee was ranked as one of the world's top fund managers in Citywire 1000 in 2012. He has been AAA rated by Citywire, Gold rated by S&P Capital IQ fund research and is Bronze rated by MorningstarOBSR. He has been at Old Mutual Global Investors since October 2005 and was previously Co-Head of Equity Research. Prior to joining Old Mutual Global Investors Lee worked for Schroders, Winterthur and in private client wealth management and has over 16 years investment experience. Lee holds the Investment Management Certificate and has an LL.B (Hons) law degree From Nottingham Trent University. He currently lives in Maidenhead, England with his wife Michal and their son Adam. In his spare time he enjoys going to the movies and having fun with his family.

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