So whenever life hits me with a gazillion things to do, I usually take things a little slower, kick back and do something chill like watch a movie. But because I’m a huge financial nerd, I get my kicks watching stuff like Passive Investing – an awesome 54-minute video on passive investing and why it rocks.
While there’re tons of books and articles written on the subject, I believe that this is the first time someone has made an entire documentary on it. The PF community has already been excitedly sharing it for a month or so now (yeah, I know, I’m a little late in the game.. my bad).
It features some of the biggest, badass (in a good way) names in the index investing industry, such as John Bogle, Kenneth French, William Sharpe, Burton Malkiel, and Rick Ferri. The production is pretty high quality, and there are summaries at the end of each chapter in case you get too distracted by the super strong British-newscaster accent.
So grab some popcorn, snuggle down on the couch, and enjoy
A caveat: While I agree with most of the concepts presented, I don’t fully agree with everything in the film. One of my biggest bugbears is their assertion that the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is the “mathematical foundation of passive investing.” I won’t go into a snooty academic diatribe about the the flaws of CAPM here, but it suffices to say that you don’t need CAPM to hold in order to show that passive investing is still the best way to invest for most people.
Other than that though, the film is excellent. I also love how they display all the logos of actively managed funds throughout the film, subtly dissing the crap out of them without actually naming any names. It’s a little more subtle than my usual practice of pointing and loudly jeering at fund management ads displayed on the subway, causing people around me to move slowly away from me and whisper under their breath. I can only assume that they must be talking about how wise I am.
If you’re looking to learn a little bit more about passive investing but aren’t inclined to read a book, you could totally start here. It could be the most profitable 54 minutes you’ve ever spent.
Image credit: cheriej