Morningstar 2020 Winter Reading List

This year, Morningstar senior equity analyst Brian Han read The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, the journalist capable of turning a seemingly humdrum business yarn into a page-turner. For Hollywood script writers, a Lewis book – such as The Big Short, Lewis’s account of the subprime loan scandal that led to the financial crisis – is like gold dust.   

“Although published more than decade ago, this remains my favourite of all Lewis’s books,” says Han, “which is saying something, given his incredible collection of works (The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Fifth Risk). Ostensibly, the book is about American football, its evolution over time and the rise of this one innocuous left-tackle position whose primary role is to protect the most important player in any gridiron side, the quarterback.

“On the other hand, it is about a poor African-American kid from a broken home, adopted by a wealthy white family through whose support the kid gets a chance in life and becomes a professional left-tackle player. The appeal of the book lies in how Lewis weaves and juxtaposes these two subjects, delving into the human aspects of the sport and the American social class debate. And, as with most Lewis books, there are lessons that can be applied in the investment sphere, such as the importance of identifying cause-and-effect, and the psychology of winning, whether in sport, life or the stock market.”

Michael Lewis, best-selling author books such as The Blind Side, Moneyball and The Undoing Project

Like Han, Morningstar equity analyst Nicolette Quinn is looking forward to curling up with Lewis. Quinn is reading The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds. “This is the true story of the relationship between arguably the two pioneers of behavioural economics, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky,” says Quinn. “It is not a textbook, but rather focuses on how their unique partnership was an essential ingredient in creating the ground-breaking work and how their own very human messiness was also their undoing.”

Another book on Quinn’s bedside table is Where are the Customers’ Yachts? Or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed Jr.

“You will never guess that this book was written in 1940 because its satirical look at the characters of the financial markets is as applicable today,” says Quinn. “Testament to that is the title would have been a perfect alternative for the royal banking commission. It is laugh-out-loud funny, and you will have a queue of people waiting to borrow it from you!” And if you wanted further incentive to read, there’s a foreword by none other than Michael Lewis. "Once I picked it up I did not put it down until I finished … What Schwed has done is capture – in deceptively clean language – the lunacy at the heart of the investment business."

Morningstar director of equity research Mathew Hodge, who covers resources companies among others, is reading Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio. In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the US, according to Fortune magazine.

As its title suggests,this 593-page tome is essentially two books in one. Every business luminary, from Bill Gates to Michael Bloomberg, waxes lyrical about the effect of this book – part bio, part business instruction manual – on their careers. So what are you waiting for? Read it over winter and then start your own hedge fund.

Bridgewater Associates founder and author of Principles Ray Dalio

In the time it takes you to read Dalio, you could probably just get through the title of another book on our list. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Ariana Huffington. What she lacks in concision, Huffington – co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post news website – makes up for in wisdom and entertainment, according to Morningstar marketing associate Laura Zakeli.

Huffington likens our drive for money and power to two legs of a three-legged stool. It may hold us up temporarily, but sooner or later we’re going to topple over. We need a third leg – a “third metric” for defining success – in order to live a healthy, productive, and meaningful life.

“I read it when I didn’t know what to do with my career or how to go about it," says Zakeli. "This book helped put things in perspective for me. It’s light-hearted and she’s a good writer. I particularly enjoyed the way in which she talks about her personal life.

"She tells you about her upbringing, what led to her eventual burnt out, and how she overcame that and learned how to prioritise things. She draws a lot on Greek mythology and ancient philosophy too. Although she quotes old white men, that’s perhaps not the intended audience!”

Huffington Post co-founder and author of Thrive, Arianna Huffington

Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall. Despite the book’s lofty title, Buckingham and Goodall have set themselves an honourable mission: to lay bare those cliched mantras that pervade the 21st century workplace. “You crave feedback. Your organisation's culture is the key to its success. Strategic planning is essential. Your competencies should be measured, and your weaknesses shored up. Leadership is a thing.”

Rubbish, say Buckingham and Goodall. Forget what you know about the world of work. Genuine “freethinking leaders”, the authors tell us, “recognise the power and beauty of our individual uniqueness. They know that emergent patterns are more valuable than received wisdom and that evidence is more powerful than dogma.”

Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian by James Grant. Journalist, essayist, businessman, and at one time the “greatest conversationalist in London”, Walter Bagehot (pronounced “badge-it”) lives in on the eponymous weekly column in the Economist. Bagehot’s father founded and owned the esteemed newspaper – and Bagehot went on to become its editor-in-chief for 17 years from 1861. Grant offers a witty and elegant portrait of one of the 19th century’s greatest public thinkers.  

No winter reading list for the investment-minded is complete without The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Published in 1949, it is, as Morningstar product manager Mark Lamonica notes, roundly considered as the bible of value investing.

“Earlier this year, my wife Haley asked me for a book she could read to learn a little more about investing,” Lamonica says. “After considering several options I thought you couldn’t get much better than The Intelligent Investor. It was a great experience for us as we discussed how the foundational concepts outlined by Graham influenced our own investing approach. The only downside is that Haley now expects me to read something related to her profession – I’m starting to regret marrying a neuropsychologist.” 

Morningstar senior editor Glenn Freeman is also focused on the evolution of world affairs. He’s reading The Levelling – What's next after globalisation by Michael O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan argues we are witnessing a “levelling-out” of wealth between poor and rich countries, of power between nations and regions, of political accountability from elites to the people, and of institutional power away from central banks and defunct 20th-century institutions such as the WTO and the IMF.

Morningstar editor Emma Rapaport has been poring over Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by Bradley Hope, Tom Wright. “Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope chronicle how fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low allegedly pulled off one of the greatest financial heists in history, masterminding the theft of billions from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known 1MDB,” says Rapaport. “With his wealth, Low rubbed shoulders with A-list Hollywood celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and socialite Paris Hilton. Low’s influence touched some of the world's leading financial firms.

Protesters in Malaysia brandish placards of Jho Low

“Wright and Hope's revelations stoked public anger against the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, who was defeated in a historic election upset last year.

“Beyond the outrageous details, which are fantastic to read, I loved this book for its glimpse into the world of sovereign wealth funds in the post-GFC era, and the US financial firms that assisted their rise. Wright and Hope say Low's success is rooted in the failures of the 21st century global economy. I can't help but agree. If you like international scandal, financial corruption and luxury lifestyles of billionaires, this book is for you.”

As usual Morningstar's head of equity research Peter Warnes will take a break from the financial press to instead focus on the form guide. Why? "Because I want tomorrow's results today." And in between races, Warnes recommends you visit - or revisit - Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, the debut novel of Jeffrey Archer. Said to have been inspired by Archer's real-life experience of near-bankruptcy, the novel, published in 1976, recounts the story of Harvey Metcalfe, who gets in hot water by selling inflated oil stocks to the wrong people.