It seems like an age since I brought out my last book! Ironically one of my last projects was helping to rewrite a book on Investing for Dummies which ironically ended up featuring (slightly) in a prime-time ITV series about insider trading and cleaners (you know the one). Apparently there the book ended up in the main protagonist’s hands I was told by one source whilst cleaning the office – not that I watched the series, busy as I was with some dreadful shiny new Netflix SF series at the time.

Anyway, many years ago I brought out what I think was the first main market book on ETFs aimed at European investors – for what was the FT’s publishing arm at the time. The book continues to sell well, even though it is getting really old now. But fear not, a new book has just arrived. I’ve finally cracked the inactivity and working with my ETF Stream colleague David Tuckwell, just brought out the new Ultimate Guide to ETFs with Harriman House.

Cue drumroll and hushed excitement. Maybe an early Christmas present? Or a gift for a particularly financially gifted teenager!

A few things to say about this obviously magnificent shiny new book.

First, we intend to update it fairly frequently, probably on an annual basis initially. There are so many big, weighty topics we can riff on that we’ll be kept busy for years.

Next up, the book is absolutely intended as simple to understand guide for all investors wanting to build their own, lazy, passive portfolio of ETFs. We explore everything from what is an ETF to portfolio strategies. Crucially we cover the big asset classes and look at a range of ETFs available – cheapest, biggest, most interesting. So, if you want to be your own robo adviser and construct that cheap, core portfolio – read the book

Lastly, if you are a fan of ETFs and you want to buy the book, then go to HERE and enter a discount code STREAM30 and you’ll get 30% of the asking price from Harriman House.

In case that link doesn’t work, here’s the web address: http://www.etfstream.com/the-ultimate-etf-guidebook

You can even get a sneak preview of some of the pages in the book at this site.

And just in case you are feeling really nerdy about ETFs, here’s the blurb from the book and website:

Exchange Traded Funds have revolutionised investing. Thanks to ETFs, investors now have the world at their fingertips and can invest in everything, from commodities to countries to currencies. But are investors using these funds effectively? And where do ETFs go from here?

The book starts with an overview of the current wonderful world of ETFs, including an analysis of how the industry is changing for both providers and investors.

Then, in a series of essays, it covers recent key developments, including: smart beta ETFs, which are preaching the gospel of factor investing, fixed income ETFs, which are making bond markets available to everyone, environmental and social governance funds, which try to humanise investing, and robo-advisors, which use ETFs to automate portfolio construction.

These developments are put into context, showing why ETF sponsors are changing the rules of the game and how the many and varied investors that use ETFs are taking to them.

In the final section, the book offers a series of model ETF portfolios, showing how investors can use ETFs to build effective portfolios. The book concludes with the Top101 – a subjective selection of the top ETFs across all asset classes that investors should consider when building an ETF portfolio.