There is no better place to start that this outstanding LinkedIn post by the extraordinary David Hickey. Please add to this list and feel free to write a recommendation.
Many keen young grads have recently asked me about resources for starting a career in investment management. While this may have been a ploy to try and engage me so I might give them a job, I have taken their requests seriously and come up with some ideas for books, podcasts, and other resources.
Given my heavy involvement in Responsible Investment and all the opportunities for collaboration that brings, I thought I might approach my network and see what others were thinking. After all, in finance there’s no right or wrong; if you want to be a buyer, there has to be another market participant who is a seller. Getting a broad array of views and then deciding yourself is critical. Stay curious and question everything! Before I give away the top picks from my collection and my network, I’ll quote Rachel Lord (head of EMEA, BlackRock), who was kind enough to leave some very good advice to ANY reader (fresh grad or seasoned executive):
“My advice: It’s important not to think about finance and investing in a vacuum. Mastering the technical skills is absolutely critical, but I’d advise anyone starting out to think about the context in which those skills get used, and to remember just how important the skills of communication are. With that in mind I have two recommendations:
1. Subscribe to Foreign Affairs. Understand the broader geopolitical drivers that impact people, society and the world’s economies; and
2. Read great poetry, novels, philosophy and plays, in whichever language you are fluent in. Understanding people, their basic motivations, and how they respond to communication will matter tremendously as you progress in your career, whichever part of investing or finance you may work in.
And remember that an insatiably curious mind is the most important skill of all in this industry.”
And with that, here is a list of things you may find useful
Books
Title Author
Bad Science Ben Goldacre
Factfulness Hans Rosling
Fooled by Randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Prisoners of Geography Tim Marshall
Start With Why Simon Sinek
The Infinite Game Simon Sinek
Thinking, fast and slow Daniel Kahneman
Rebel Talent Francesca Gino
Deep Work Cal Newport
The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee
Zero to One Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Charles Mackay
Nudge Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
Freakonomics Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
The Great Crash, 1929 JK Galbraith
Irrational Exuberance Robert Shiller
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
The Defining Decade Meg Jay
Grow the Pie Alex Edmans
Modern China Cary Krosinsky
Liars Poker Michael Lewis
Talking to my Daughter - a brief history of Capitalism Yanis Varufakis
The Decisive Moment Jonah Lehrer
The Intelligent Investor Ben Graham
Finance for Ordinary People Meir Statman
The Rule of Law Tom Bingham
Podcasts
Outrage & Optimism
Freakonomics Radio
FiftyFaces
The Daily – a New York Times Podcast
Man Group – A Sustainable Future
The Ethical Compass Podcast
Capital Allocators (check out especially the episodes with Hiro Mizuno and David Blood)
Climate Rising
Motley Fool
Articles
Hugh Rockoff ‘The “Wizard of Oz” as a Monetary Allegory’ https://economics.rutgers.edu/joomlatools-files/docman-files/RockoffWizardofOz.pdf
Letters to Investors from the likes of Howard Marks etc. Here is a good list to get you started
https://www.vintagevalueinvesting.com/the-complete-list-of-q1-2020-hedge-fund-letters-to-investors/
Anything about Charlie Munger, ever in Buffet’s shadow https://www.thendobetter.com/investing/2017/8/29/charlie-munger-life-lessons
And of course Warren Buffet’s Letters to Berkshire Shareholders https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html
Organisations with great output!
CFA Institute Research Foundation - https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/research/foundation
PRI - https://www.unpri.org/investment-tools
IIGCC - https://www.iigcc.org/resources/
Pensions for Purpose - https://www.pensionsforpurpose.com/
GMO - https://www.gmo.com/europe/research-library/
Asset TV - https://www.asset.tv/
IEA - https://www.iea.org/