Investment Team Christmas Reading List 2020

Thu 17 Dec 2020

As we enter the final weeks of the year the Investment Team has once again come together to compile a list of books suitable for stocking fillers or long evenings spent avoiding Zoom calls with extended family.

It has been a challenging year for all, the team have chosen a few books that have helped us navigate the uncharted territory of ‘circuit-breaker lockdowns’, ‘social bubbles’ and never-ending Brexit deadlines. The books below can help provide a framework for tackling the unfamiliar environment in which we find ourselves.

David Baker, Chief Investment Officer

Such is the influence of this book, the title has passed into everyday language and is now somewhat of a cliché. Taleb has argued that the pandemic is not a true ‘black swan’ since it had been predicted by many and was a near certainty to occur eventually. His book, however, is a masterpiece and contains an equal measure of humour and insight, the perfect holiday read to transform how you view the world around us.

George Lagarias, Chief Economist

Authored by one of the most influential and controversial political scientists of the 20th Century, Henry Kissinger’s 1994 book Diplomacy is highly relevant in today’s world. Kissinger was a proponent of ‘Realpolitik’, matching actions to circumstances rather than ideological beliefs and this concept is highly topical against the backdrop of a Conservative party set to run the largest budget deficit in peacetime.

James Rowlinson, Head of Fund Selection

One of those books that explains why things are the way they are, generally concerning geopolitics, but also the geographic advantages and disadvantages that see certain some countries perform well economically, and others not so well.

Prerna Bhalla, Investment Analyst

In a year where markets suffered their biggest declines and consequently rallied to record highs, analysts have been left puzzled and unable to explain the past or predict future movements. This is the perfect book to help explain how market participants make decisions based on their biases and act intuitively. In short, what Thinking Fast and Slow illustrates is that time and again, when it comes to investing, your brain is not always on your side!

Patrick McKenna, Investment Analyst

As our social calendars suddenly became a lot more open in March, many of us turned to streaming services to occupy our free time. The streaming giant Netflix has done immensely well out of the crisis, its share price up 60% YTD. But is there more to the success than meets the eye? This insightful read provides a glimpse into the highly creative working environment found at Netflix, where innovation is valued over efficiency and there is no set vacation policy.