The Aspirational Investor

April 6, 2015
In this astute business manual, Chhabra, chief investment officer of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, urges readers to focus not on beating the market, but on evaluating personal goals and dreams, and formulating ways to reach them. Investing assets wisely, he explains, will have a dramatic impact on the quality of the investor’s life. While the temptation to pour time and effort into hitting an arbitrary number—enabled by a constant stream of readily available financial information—is strong, it’s ultimately not the major contributor to happiness. Instead, Chhabra calls for an orientation toward individual objectives, a viewpoint that he calls “objective portfolio theory.” Investors are both “the victim and the culprit,” falling prey to a dangerous illusion that they, or their financial advisors, understand the market better than they really do. This readable, graphic-heavy book covers the risk-and-reward dynamic, the illusion of control, the aversion to loss, and the volatility of markets. Chhabra gives a good sense of how investments work, and a sensible view of how to work toward goals “by organizing your financial life around what you hope to achieve.” Agent: Max Brockman, Brockman Inc.

May 15, 2015

Chhabra (chief investment officer, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management) redefines personal investing from trying to beat the market to focusing first on personal objectives and then tailoring investments to fit. He starts by explaining the pitfalls of investing and how individuals rarely beat market averages and that even the returns of the best professionals fall short once fees are deducted. The author advises individuals to first assess their personal objectives as well as their tolerance for risk. He calls his innovative system the Wealth Allocation Framework. Within it, Chhabra divides objectives and investments into three categories: Safety (funds to meet emergencies and assets such as a home to live in), Market (investments to keep up with the market and inflation), and Aspirational (higher risk investments that could have huge returns). He analyzes the market-beating Endowment Model and Warren Buffett's value investing to illustrate how his own system works. VERDICT Chhabra's clear, concise work will resonate with more affluent readers who want to better understand the management of their assets.--Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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