The more recent of the two books, The Mutual Fund Masters (354 pages. Probus. $22.95), features Griffeth’s interviews with 20 top money managers. Griffeth’s premise is that mutual funds are a lot like movies – they’re directed by people with distinctive styles, so individuals should choose to invest in a fund managed by, say, Ken Heebner or Ralph Wanger much like they’d choose to go see the latest Woody Allen flick. Find someone you like, the theory goes, and stick with it. The book won’t win any points for technical difficulty – Griffeth simply called the fund managers and published edited transcripts of the interviews – but it’s nonetheless a valuable collection of discussions with the pros in charge of our investment dollars. The book should also make its publisher happy, since it comes with its own built-in market: the viewers who make Griffeth’s nightly chats with managers on “Mutual Fund Investor” among CNBC’s top-rated shows. His fans will find his written work the same as his on-air personality – short on glitz, long on smarts.
