Investing for Growth (Second Edition): How to make money by only buying the best companies in the world

Britain's most popular stockpicker' – Financial Times

'Buffett 2.0' – Investors' Chronicle

Second edition of the celebrated guide to investing from renowned fund manager Terry Smith, with new content covering 2020–2025. Foreword by Lionel Barber, former editor of the FT.

Buy good companies. Don't overpay. Do nothing.

Some people love to make successful investing seem more complicated than it really is. In Investing for Growth, an anthology of essays and letters written between 2010–25, leading fund manager Terry Smith delights in debunking the many myths of investing – and making the case for simply buying the best companies in the world.

These are businesses that generate serious amounts of cash and know what to do with it. The result is a powerful compounding of returns that is almost impossible to beat. Even better, they aren't going anywhere. Most have survived the Great Depression and two world wars.

With his trademark razor-sharp wit, Smith not only reveals what these high-quality companies really look like and where to find them (as well as how to discover impostors), but also:

Why you should avoid companies that abuse the English language

How share buybacks can destroy value

How to spot quality businesses and why you should invest in them

What investors can learn from the Tour de France

Why leveraged ETFs are much riskier than most realise

Why you should avoid investing in bank shares

His ten golden rules for investment

And much, much more.

Backed up by the analytical rigour that made his name with the cult classic, Accounting for Growth, this book is a hugely enjoyable and eye-opening tour through some of the most important topics in the world of investing – as well as a treasure trove of practical insights on how to make your money work for you.

No investor's bookshelf is complete without it.

Pages: 400

Publication year: 2026