The Empowered Investor: A Guide to Building Better Portfolios

I found this book to be a gem. It was a pleasure to read and the information was clear and most enlightening. Having an interest in statistics and probabilities, I found the recommendations about asset class investing and the Fama/French 3-factor for investing most convincing.

I liked the metaphors that were used; they helped make the principles and key ideas easily understandable. I found the references to research, throughout the book, and to the history of portfolio theory and investment management breakthroughs, at the end of the book, most informative. I also found the annotated bibliography of recommended books most helpful.

In short, I found this to be the best little book I have read about investing and recommend it to anyone who wants to see their money grow.

The book has a superb table of contents; in fact it is four pages long. With a table of contents like that you would expect the book to provide much more information than it did. With the book being only a 100 plus pages, I finished it thinking is that all there is? The book should probably have been at least 200- 250 pages. While I admit Keith did a pretty good job covering a lot of ground, I felt I wanted more meat on the bones as it were. For someone who has little time, I suppose this is a good read. I, however, wanted more content. Because of that, I can only give it an average rating. It had the potential of being one of the best investing books out there but at 100+ pages it falls short. I would have liked to have seen more information on asset allocation depending on your risk tolerance etc. The part of the title that say A Guide to Building Better Portfolios is a little misleading since there is very little if any information on building portfolios in the book other than general terms. How can you build a portfolio on general information? Enough said.

Keith Matthews has done a fantastic job explaining the impact of the Fama/French 3 Factor model for the individual investor. This academic research has had a profound impact on modern portfolio theory, and will have a similar affect on Canadian investments portfolios.

This is a must read for any investor that is wanting to understand the how a passive investment strategy can be improved with some investment process.

I have purchased multiple copies for my clients.

Marshall McAlister, CFA
RBC Dominion Securities

This is a unique book on the Canadian financial landscape. It is the first that exposes Canadians to the Three Factor Model which has been used successfully by institutions for years. That alone is worth the price of admission. Keith has done a great job in taking what are essentially esoteric mathematical exercises and making them readable and useable for the reader. It is important that readers recognize the difference between how institiutions and retail clients invest. This knowlege will markedly help the average investor. A great book.