John Neff on Investing

John Neff is a life-long contrarian whose investment strategies have consistently defied conventional wisdom, yielding impressive results over three decades. As a portfolio manager for Vanguard's Windsor and Gemini II Funds, he famously favored inexpensive, underperforming stocks over popular growth options, achieving a remarkable 57-fold increase on an initial investment and beating the market twenty-two times in various climates. Upon Windsor's closure to new investors in 1986, it stood as the largest mutual fund in the U.S. Now retired, Neff shares his successful low price-to-earnings (P/E) approach to investing, detailing the strategies that earned him recognition alongside investment legends like Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. The book provides practical guidance for aspiring value investors, emphasizing the use of P/E ratios to identify undervalued stocks and interpret earnings histories. Neff’s narrative, "My Road to Windsor," reveals the mindset that shaped his philosophy, while excerpts from his personal investment diaries offer insights into his decision-making process and the evolution of his innovative style. This book is essential reading for anyone in the financial sector, showcasing the long-heralded strategies of a Wall Street genius.