Page, Bruce (Author); Hodgson, Godfrey (Author); Cornfield, Bernard (Subject)

The authors provide a great account of the rise and fall of Investors Overseas Services (IOS) from its involvement in the first mutual funds of the early 1960's to its eventual bankruptcy in the early 1970's. As they say, "The real lesson of the IOS story is an old one: it is that human communication is so fragile that a man can put out whatever propaganda he likes in his own interest and be sure that enough of it will be believed to make his fortune."

IOS was essentially Bernie Cornfeld and Edward Cowett using Cornfeld's sales line that they were the first to provide top class investment advice to the small man. The IOS funds used a committed and well paid international sales force to market this concept and it was the cost of this along with desperate performance chasing investments that eventually sank them.

This is one of my favourite books and just as enjoyable as Eichenwald's "Conspiracy of Fools" (Enron story) for the high quality research and stranger than fiction main characters. ( )