Common Sense on Mutual Funds, Updated 10th Anniversary Edition

Common Sense on Mutual Funds

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is delighted to introduce the 10^th anniversary, fully updated edition of the highly respected investment classic Common Sense on Mutual Funds (Wiley; December 2009; $29.95; Hardcover), by the legendary John C. Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group and creator of the first index mutual fund.

Since the first edition was published in 1999, much has changed—and changed radically—in the financial landscape, and no one is more aware of this than mutual fund pioneer John C. Bogle.  After decades of unprecedented growth in the U.S. stock market, over the past 10 years we’ve experienced major bear markets, and most significantly, the economic crisis of 2007-2009, which wreaked havoc on the economy at large.   But despite significant turmoil, the investment principles Bogle wrote about in 1999 have stood the test of time.

“With the passage of a decade, 2009 seemed a natural time not only to bring out this updated edition of Common Sense on Mutual Funds, but to evaluate its message,” writes Bogle in the new preface to the book.  “In doing so, I have not altered a single word of the original edition, but have chosen instead to update its voluminous data, and to comment on significant developments that have occurred since then.”

Hugely important to investors and for the industry when it originally published in 1999 when the market was soaring, the passage of time has been kind to the book – by proving Bogle’s precepts absolutely correct.  This new edition is an important roadmap for investors as they seek a way forward.  Bogle takes a critical look at the mutual fund industry and helps investors navigate their way through the staggering array of investment alternatives that are available to them.  In a rising market, costs, and taxes and the problems of size are easily overlooked.  Bogle reminds us of the losses to our portfolios from our lack of diligence.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing in today's turbulent market environment and offers timeless advice in building an investment portfolio. Along the way, Bogle shows how simplicity and common sense invariably trump costly complexity, and how a low cost, broadly diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds is virtually assured of outperforming the vast majority of Wall Street professionals over the long-term.

John C. Bogle is Founder of The Vanguard Group, Inc., and president of the Bogle Financial Markets Research Center.  He created Vanguard in 1974 and served as chairman and chief executive until 1996 and senior chairman until 2000.  The Vanguard Group is one of the two largest mutual fund organizations in the world.

In 2004, Time magazine named Mr. Bogle as one of the world's 100 most powerful and influential people, and Institutional Investor presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 1999, Fortune designated him as one of the investment industry's four "Investment Giants” of the twentieth century.  He is also the author of Enough, and The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, both published by Wiley.

Common Sense on Mutual Funds

Fully Updated, 10^th Anniversary Edition

By John C. Bogle

Wiley; 2009; $ 29.95; Hardcover

ISBN:  9780470138137