I worked as a financial planner for ~5 years, and this book is excellent for beginner or even more advanced investors. With clients, especially early on, I notice they have a lot of fear, are not taking enough or taking too much risk. I’ve seen people bucket money wrong, and had their short term savings in large cap stocks when the pandemic hit - lost 30% of their portfolio and a good chunk of their down payment.

I love that this book takes the long-term approach, as it should. It focuses on asset allocation rather than security selection. We need to diversify across classes, countries, etc. rebalance! Don’t chase after the highest returns you see. Don’t sell low, and buy high if you panic when you see a dip.

For more advanced/accredited investors I found impact investing really interesting, too. It’ll be interesting to see that area grow over the coming years.

In The New Rules of Investing, Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer of UBS, offers invaluable insights on navigating today's unpredictable financial landscape. I have several takeaways from the book.

This book introduces a practical strategy of dividing assets into 'buckets' for living, future needs, and prosperity. This approach allows investors to tailor their strategies based on their specific financial goals and risk tolerance, making it a versatile and effective tool in wealth management.

The book dives into following the money and thinking of investing in segments. To illustrate this, the author discussed the crucial role of government spending in shaping the economy. The US government contributes more than a third of the spending in our economy. Understanding this influence is key for investors, as current government policy and spending decisions can significantly impact the financial markets.

Many people want to direct their investments into areas that are important to them. The authors discuss the concept of impact investing, where ethical responsibility and profitability coexist. This form of investing allows one to contribute to causes like sustainability, community development, or cancer research.

The concluding chapter, Haefele and Morais, tackles risk, a reminder that risk is inherent in life and investing. Thinking you have mastered risk is a sure sign you haven't.

The book made me think differently about how and where I may invest.

“The New Rules of Investing,” by Mark Haefele, provides investors with a rational and contemporary approach to global investing. The author, who is the Chief Investment Officer of UBS Global Wealth Management, begins each chapter with a new investing rule. The rules are intended to create financial security and direct investors to: invest in what governments are buying, establish a diversified portfolio, adhere to a planned investment strategy, and intentionally invest in opportunities for positive social and environmental impact.

In implementing the rules, the author advises investors to perform certain actions. One is to follow the “Big Money” (government spending) in areas called the 5Ds of disruption: debt, deglobalization, demographics, digitalization, and decarbonization. Another is to diversify (and periodically rebalance) across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies. Another is to subdivide portfolios into three buckets: liquidity (for short-term needs), longevity (for longer term goals, including retirement), and legacy (to pass onto heirs, charities, etc.)—with each bucket having a prescribed asset, liquidity, and risk mix.

Once financial security has been established, the author urges investors to become impact investors who invest in personally meaningful causes for positive social and environmental impact. To illustrate, the author includes stories of clients whose investments positively and measurably impacted energy, construction, petrochemical, and health-care businesses.

The author concludes with a bonus rule on humility. Through personal stories, the author shows that humans routinely misjudge their abilities as investors and cautions them to remain humble by sticking to planned investment strategies that will protect their assets.

“The New Rules of Investing” is an enjoyable and easy-to-understand read that will benefit investors seeking a balanced and modern approach to global investing.

My special thanks to HarperCollins Leadership and NetGalley for an advance reading copy of this book.

This is a fascinating book on wealth management and investing from an obvious expert in the field. Mark Haefele is the Chief Investment Officer of UBS (a Swiss-based investment group) in charge of a portfolio totaling over $5.4 trillion in assets. In this book, he takes his vast experience in wealth management and boils it down to some essential elements that can be applied to each of our lives, regardless of our net worth. He believes the nature of investing fundamentally changed after the 2009 financial crisis and our response has to adjust as well.

His writing style is fluid and enjoyable, the book is a beautiful framework of investment and absolutely packed full of helpful advice. If I have a slight nit to pick about the book, most of his examples about the principles are about people who just sold their business for $2b, or had an inheritance of $200m or something else extravagant. Whole I believe the principles could apply to a not-so-mega-wealthy demographic, I would have liked some more examples in that range. That said, when you run one of the biggest portfolios in the world and regularly lead Davos-like meetings with the top 100 richest people in the world, I suppose your pool of examples is somewhat limited.

Overall wonderful book and highly recommend if you’re interested in investment philosophy. Huge thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and the author for the ARC!

The New Rules of Investing is the first investing book for years that I know I'm going to finish. By the time I was half way through I'd started following it's logical advice to look at what Governments are buying. I'm not a professional investor yet but I sure wish more investing books were as friendly to read as this one. Well worth it.