Writing a textbook is never easy. For a subject as diverse as investments, the task is particularly difficult. The undisciplined writer could fill volumes and never finish. How does an author best go about organizing the many topics that constitute the field of investments? We chose to start by establishing a basic set of principles to guide our development of Fundamentals of Investments.
We sincerely believe that the serious student of investments should acquire a balanced knowledge of both investment theory and practice. Granted, someone desiring only an introductory exposure to investment practice could get by with a minimal discussion of theory and focus almost exclusively on institutional details and personal finance applications. That approach, however, would leave the student unable to appreciate the many subtle and important issues faced daily by the investment professional.
We have structured Fundamentals to present students taking their first course in investments with the basic building blocks of modern investment thought. Although the text is meant to present a thorough discussion of investments, we have constantly tried to remain faithful to three principles:
- Keep the material practical and relevant.
- Make the text easy to comprehend.
- Design the text for modular use by instructors.
First, we have written Fundamentals to give students a working knowledge of the financial instruments available to investors and the ways in which markets for these instruments operate. We have avoided tangential discussions of issues not germane to the primary subject at hand. Second, we want the text to be accessible to students unfamiliar with investments.
Therefore, we have tried to write in a clear, concise style, keeping mathematical notation to a minimum, and including numerous examples to explain the concepts presented. Finally, we want instructors to be able to use the text in a modular fashion. Although we have organized the text in what we believe to be a logical order, some instructors may wish to change that order or skip certain sections or chapters entirely. The organization of the text accommodates such preferences.
This is the third edition of Fundamentals. As any textbook author will attest, a previous work can always be improved. Each time after the first and second editions were published, we received many helpful suggestions from instructors, readers, and reviewers regarding ways in which we could make Fundamentals better. In response, we have made a number of changes that we believe substantially enhance Fundamentals in terms of our goals of practicality, ease of comprehension, and flexibility. Specifically, the third edition contains the following differences from the second:
Updated material. Where appropriate, we have updated the text to keep students abreast of the latest developments in investments. We have revised tables, graphs, and illustrations to incorporate current information. Furthermore, we have added discussions of recent important academic research.
Revised Money Matters. In each chapter we have updated and in some cases replaced the Money Matters features, which are topical discussions designed to show students how some of the concepts described in the text are applied in the "real world."
Improved the book's focus. We have concentrated on the most important concepts by eliminating those that have become less important over time.
Added statistical concepts review section. In order to understand investments it is important for students to have a solid grounding in basic statistics. We have introduced this review section at the end of Chapter 7 to help refresh the reader's memory.
Expanded and improved coverage of efficient markets. This concept plays a central role in modern thinking about investing regardless of one's beliefs. We have approached the subject differently than other texts. Instead of treating the subject in one lengthy section of the book, Chapter 4 provides a concise summary of efficient markets concepts. A review of the literature is then placed in chapters where that discussion is most relevant.
Added international content. The globalization of investments is occurring at a rapid pace. It is imperative that students become familiar with an increasingly broad array of international investing concepts. Chapter 26 deals directly with international investing. Moreover, throughout the text we have considerably expanded the discussions of research and data on international securities and securities markets. There are also new discussions of currency management and interest-rate parity.
Many people ask us how Fundamentals differs from our other book, Investments. After all, Investments, now in its sixth edition, has been one of the most successful finance textbooks published. Why another version of such a popular text?
Both Fundamentals and Investments are comprehensive, covering all of the major aspects and theories of investing, while avoiding excess detail. Furthermore, both books contain similar features, such as a glossary of terms introduced in the text, and both books offer an instructor's manual and investment software.
Investments, however, is written primarily for students who have stronger backgrounds in economics, statistics, and accounting. We felt that most students in their first investments course could benefit from a textbook designed to provide a less theoretical and technical approach to investments.
Therefore, although we have not ignored the quantitative nature of modern investment theory and practice, we have considerably reduced the mathematical content from that contained in Investments. Moreover, we have organized Fundamentals in a different manner. Specifically, Fundamentals is organized in a modular fashion, as mentioned earlier, whereas Investments has a presentation style that is more integrated.
Fundamentals contains several teaching aids that we believe instructors will find valuable. The terms highlighted within the text and noted marginally in each chapter emphasize important concepts. The glossary allows students to quickly reference terms discussed earlier in the text, thereby creating a continuity of concepts across chapters. The point-by-point chapter summaries permit students to easily identify essential thoughts developed in each chapter.
We are particularly proud of the Money Matters articles presented in each chapter. Specifically written for Fundamentals, these articles are designed to give students a sense of how various investment issues are approached by practitioners as well as a glimpse of the techniques that are used. For example, the Money Matters box in Chapter 2 compares the various types of brokers, ranging from full-service to discount to online brokers; Chapter 18 discusses assessing manager skill; and Chapter 26 considers the controversial issue of whether to hedge a foreign investment portfolio.
Furthermore, Ann Sherman, a recent faculty member of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for six years, wrote the Money Matters feature in Chapter 13 about raising capital in the world's largest emerging economy--The People's Republic of China. In addition, the Chartered Financial Analyst program is described in the Chapter 14 Money Matters. We believe the Money Matters articles provide both interesting reading for students and a stimulating source of classroom discussion material.
We have learned much by writing this book and hope that you will learn much by reading it. Although we have done our best to eliminate errors from the book, experience tells us that perfection is unattainable. Thus, we encourage those students and instructors with constructive comments to send them to us at either galexander@csom.umn.edu, wfsharpe@leland.stanford.edu, or jeff.bailey@target.com
