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The Behavioral Investor

By Daniel Crosby

Hardback £25.00 / $35.00
eBook £19.00 / $26.49
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The Behavioral Investor

By Daniel Crosby

Jacket text

From the New York Times bestselling author of the book named the best investment book of 2017 comes The Behavioral Investor, an applied look at how psychology ought to inform the art and science of investment management.

In The Behavioral Investor, psychologist and asset manager Dr. Daniel Crosby examines the sociological, neurological and psychological factors that influence our investment decisions and sets forth practical solutions for improving both returns and behavior. Readers will be treated to the most comprehensive examination of investor behavior to date and will leave with concrete solutions for refining decision-making processes, increasing self-awareness and constraining the fatal flaws to which most investors are prone.

The Behavioral Investor takes a sweeping tour of human nature before arriving at the specifics of portfolio construction, rooted in the belief that it is only as we come to a deep understanding of “why” that we are left with any clue as to “how” we ought to invest. The book is comprised of three parts, which are as follows:

Part One – An explication of the sociological, neurological and physiological impediments to sound investment decision-making. Readers will leave with an improved understanding of how externalities impact choices in nearly imperceptible ways and begin to understand the impact of these pressures on investment selection.

Part Two – Coverage of the four primary psychological tendencies that impact investment behavior. Although human behavior is undoubtedly complex, in an investment context our choices are largely driven by one of the four factors discussed herein. Readers will emerge with an improved understanding of their own behavior, increased humility and a lens through which to vet decisions of all types.

Part Three – Illuminates the “so what” of Parts One and Two and provides a framework for managing wealth in a manner consistent with the realities of our contextual and behavioral shortcomings. Readers will leave with a deeper understanding of the psychological underpinnings of popular investment approaches such as value and momentum and appreciate why all types of successful investing have psychology at their core.

Wealth, truly considered, has at least as much to do with psychological as financial wellbeing. The Behavioral Investor aims to enrich readers in the most holistic sense of the word, leaving them with tools for compounding both wealth and knowledge.

About the author

Dr. Daniel Crosby is a psychologist and behavioral finance expert who helps organizations understand the intersection of mind and markets. Dr. Crosby’s first book, Personal Benchmark: Integrating Behavioral Finance and Investment Management, was a New York Times bestseller. His second book, The Laws of Wealth, was named the best investment book of 2017 by the Axiom Business Book Awards and has been translated into 12 languages. His third book, The Behavioral Investor, was Axiom’s best investment book of 2019 and is a comprehensive look at the neurology, physiology and psychology of sound financial decision-making. When he’s not decoding market psychology, Daniel is a husband and father of 3, a fanatical follower of the St. Louis Cardinals, an explorer of the American South, and an amateur hot sauce chef.

Reviews

For fans of behavioral finance Crosby’s book is a must to add to your collection. For neophytes it’s a great introduction.

Larry Swedroe, Author and Director of Research , The BAM Alliance

Rather arrogantly, I thought I knew everything there was to know about behavioural finance. After reading ‘The Behavioural Investor’ I realise I was wrong (ironically arrogance is one of the cognitive flaws that Dr Crosby writes about in his excellent book!).

Robert Carver, author ‘Smart Portfolios’ and visiting lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London

…Crosby is a master of his craft, a great storyteller as well as an academic, who can explain sometimes difficult concepts in simple terms and support his arguments with thought-provoking and entertaining commentary.

Richard Gill, CFA and contributor to Master Investor

Crosby’s book is eminently readable, with ample stories and studies…the book offers the reader valuable lessons in creating a portfolio that can, at least in part, circumvent the most pervasive behavioral pitfalls.

Brenda Jubin, Reading the Markets blog

…a useful summary of an increasingly important field of investing. Our brains have not evolved fast enough to make us expert in many investment decisions, and being aware of these short-comings may help us, not to knock it out of the park as investors, but to avoid various more obvious mistakes that can often hurt our wealth.

Simon Moore, Chief Investment Officer at Moola and contributor to Forbes

‘The Behavioral Investor’ is Daniel Crosby’s brilliant new book which looks at how professional investors can improve and enhance their performance by better understanding the way their brains influence their behaviours and affects their investment practice.

Steven Goldstein, Senior Managing Director, Alpha R Cubed

Media coverage

From Real Money, Real Experts:

This week on “Real Money, Real Experts,” Rachael and Mary sit down with psychologist and behavioral finance expert Daniel Crosby. This conversation was a fun one, covering everything from epic failures to Chat GPT to the power of authenticity – which starts with doing the hard internal work on ourselves. Daniel reminds us that technology… Read more »

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From CNN Business:

No matter how smart or well educated you are, and no matter how successful professionally, when it comes to investing you still might not make the best decisions. That’s because you’re human, which means you’re hardwired to respond in certain ways that serve you well in many parts of your life, but tend to work… Read more »

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From CityWire Americas:

Mark Twain once said that all you need are ‘good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience.’ Our top 30 ensure you have at least one of those checked off with their must-reads.

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From Top Traders Round Table:

Welcome to Top Traders Round Table, a podcast series on managed futures brought to you by CME Group. On today’s episode, host Niels Kaastrup-Larsen continues his conversation with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavior Officer of Brinker Capital, and the host of The Standard Deviation Podcast. Niels and Daniel discuss how emotion affects investment decision-making, the… Read more »

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From Seeking Alpha:

Investing for the next 10 years and beyond can sound like a daunting task. The longer your time horizon, the less you are likely to be able to predict accurately what the future may hold. You must think probabilistically to make sure the odds are in your favor. Tasks with a significant degree of luck… Read more »

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From Coffee and Capital:

Since the beginning of the year I’ve committed myself to cracking open a book or listening to an audiobook every single day. Whether it’s during the commute to and from work, before I start my day, at work as part of my studies for a licensing exam, or at night when I get home, I… Read more »

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From Seeking Alpha:

As I often do, when I go on vacation, I will take at least one book suggested to me by one of my members. And, on my recent pilgrimage to the House Of Mouse, I brought along the book “The Behavioral Investor,” written by Daniel Crosby. While I do not necessarily agree with everything I… Read more »

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From MoneyWeek:

The Behavioral Investor by Daniel Crosby (2018) I enjoyed this book on behavioural investing a lot (Crosby is a US author, hence the US spelling), and not just because it covers similar ground to my own book The Sceptical Investor. Crosby knows his stuff – he’s a proper psychologist as well as an asset manager… Read more »

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From Bamford Media:

The Behavioral Investor, by Dr Daniel Crosby The most successful Financial Planners of the future will combine financial planning, investment management, and behavioural coaching. Understanding the reasons why, as humans, we’re terrible when it comes to making financial decisions is an essential component for your tool kit. In The Behavioral Investor, Dan examines the sociological,… Read more »

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Contents

Foreword by Noreen D. Beaman
Preface

Part One. The Behavioral Investor
Chapter 1. Sociology
Chapter 2. Investing on the Brain
Chapter 3. Physiology

Part Two. Investor Psychology
Chapter 4. Ego
Chapter 5. Conservatism
Chapter 6. Attention
Chapter 7. Emotion

Part Three. Becoming a Behavioral Investor
Chapter 8. The Behavioral Investor Overcomes Ego
Chapter 9. The Behavioral Investor Conquers Conservatism
Chapter 10. The Behavioral Investor Hones Attention
Chapter 11. The Behavioral Investor Manages Emotion

Part Four. Building Behavioral Portfolios
Chapter 12. Investing a Third Way
Chapter 13. Behavioral Investing is Rules-Based
Chapter 14. Behavioral Investing is Risk First Investing
Chapter 15. Behavioral Investing has No Masters of the Universe
Chapter 16. Sample Behavioral Investment Factors

Epilogue. Endure to the End



Published: 16/10/2018
Edition: 1st
Pages: 280
Formats: hardback - ISBN 9780857196866
ebook - ISBN 9780857196873
audio - ISBN 0000000000016
Media enquiries

If you’d like to get in touch with the author for interview or comment, or you’d like a review copy of this book, please contact us at pr@harriman-house.com or call +44 (0)1730 233870.

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