Rare is the opportunity to chat with a legendary financial figure and hear the unvarnished truth about what really goes on behind the scenes. Hedgehogging represents just such an opportunity, allowing you to step inside the world of Wall Street with Barton Biggs as he discusses investing in general, hedge funds in particular, and how he has learned to find and profit from the best moneymaking opportunities in an eat-what-you-kill, cutthroat investment world.
In volatile markets, controlling downside risk is critical in order to achieve strong returns and market-neutral investing has emerged as a leading method for achieving this goal. In this book, U.S. investment expert Joseph G. Nicholas explores important new market-neutral approaches to return enhancement and risk reduction. Market-neutral strategies help in eliminating certain market risks through offsetting long and short positions and can be used with all the different asset classes. The complexities created by the combination of longs, shorts, and leverage, however, make market-neutral strategies very different from conventional investments. Getting to know how these strategies work involves breaking them down into their basic components and then examining how those parts interact as a system with specific risk and reward characteristics
A well-rounded hedge fund guide for the serious financial professional Alternative investment strategies-hedge funds in particular-have experienced a significant resurgence recently, largely in response to the dramatic downturn of the global equity markets. In response to this explosion in popularity, this book focuses on many of the best moneymaking strategies related to these alternative investment vehicles. IMCA (The Investment Management Consultants Association) is a professional association established in 1985, representing the investment consulting profession in the U.S. and Canada. Kenneth S. Phillips is a member of the IMCA Advisory Council and Managing Principal of Capital Partners, LLC. Ron Surz, CIMA, is a member of the IMCA Board of Directors and the President of PPCA Inc.
The Little Book of Hedge Funds that's big on explanations even the casual investor can use An accessible overview of hedge funds, from their historical origin, to their perceived effect on the global economy, to why individual investors should understand how they work, The Little Book of Hedge Funds is essential reading for anyone seeking the tools and information needed to invest in this lucrative yet mysterious world. Authored by wealth management expert Anthony Scaramucci, and providing a comprehensive overview of this shadowy corner of high finance, the book is written in a straightforward and entertaining style. Packed with introspective commentary, highly applicable advice, and engaging anecdotes, this Little Book: Explains why the future of hedge funds lies in their ability to provide greater transparency and access in order to attract investors currently put off because they do not understand how they work Shows that hedge funds have grown in both size and importance in the investment community and why individual investors need to be aware of their activities Demystifies hedge fund myths, by analyzing the infamous 2 and 20 performance fee and addressing claims that there is an increased risk in investing in hedge funds Explores a variety of financial instruments—including leverage, short selling and hedging—that hedge funds use to reduce risk, enhance returns, and minimize correlation with equity and bond markets Written to provide novice investors, experienced financiers, and financial institutions with the tools and information needed to invest in hedge funds, this book is a must read for anyone with outstanding questions about this key part of the twenty-first century economy.
The fall and rise of a trillion-dollar industry Just three years ago, hedge funds were at the top of the investment world. Years of unparalleled growth had pushed assets to nearly $3 trillion. Leverage was used so aggressively that total long and short investments approached an astonishing $10 trillion. Thousands of new funds had sprouted in every corner of the market, and managers, enjoying an almost unimaginable pool of fees, were dubbed the new “masters of the universe.” Then came 2008.The industry suffered its worst performance ever, losing $600 billion or roughly 20% in a single year. Multibilliondollar hedge funds collapsed overnight, epic frauds were revealed, and assets plummeted as spooked investors scrambled to get their money back. The near collapse of the industry is one of the most dramatic stories of the global economic meltdown. It’s also among the most instructive—because hedge funds are still alive and, if managed wisely, will emerge stronger than ever in the coming years. In Hedge Funds Humbled, industry insider Trevor Ganshaw provides a detailed primer of the industry and explains how the people who earned more than $100 billion in fees during their short but happy heyday planted the seeds of their own destruction. He paints a vivid picture of how the industry leaders’ major mistakes destroyed hundreds of billions of investor capital; Ganshaw calls them the “seven deadly sins” of the hedge fund industry: Out-of-control leverage Inadequate risk management Flawed fee structures Overcrowded strategies The Peter Principle of too much capital Capital instability Fraud, enabled by lax controls Ganshaw examines the future of the industry and shows investors what to look for and what to avoid. There’s still money to be made in hedge funds and, in his estimation, the industry is poised for a comeback. “As all good hedge fund managers know, greed is good,” he writes. “Humility, it seems, may now be an essential part of keeping it that way.” More dramatic than fiction, Hedge Funds Humbled is a timely work that provides a critical look at an industry gone bad—and an optimistic look at its future.
The hedge fund industry has grown dramatically over the last two decades, with more than eight thousand funds now controlling close to two trillion dollars. Originally intended for the wealthy, these private investments have now attracted a much broader following that includes pension funds and retail investors. Because hedge funds are largely unregulated and shrouded in secrecy, they have developed a mystique and allure that can beguile even the most experienced investor. In Hedge Funds, Andrew Lo--one of the world's most respected financial economists--addresses the pressing need for a systematic framework for managing hedge fund investments. Arguing that hedge funds have very different risk and return characteristics than traditional investments, Lo constructs new tools for analyzing their dynamics, including measures of illiquidity exposure and performance smoothing, linear and nonlinear risk models that capture alternative betas, econometric models of hedge fund failure rates, and integrated investment processes for alternative investments. In a new chapter, he looks at how the strategies for and regulation of hedge funds have changed in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Wealthy, powerful, and potentially dangerous, hedge-find managers have emerged as the stars of twenty-first century capitalism. Based on unprecedented access to the industry, More Money Than God provides the first authoritative history of hedge funds. This is the inside story of their origins in the 1960s and 1970s, their explosive battles with central banks in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally their role in the financial crisis of 2007-9. Hedge funds reward risk takers, so they tend to attract larger-than-life personalities. Jim Simons began life as a code-breaker and mathematician, co-authoring a paper on theoretical geometry that led to breakthroughs in string theory. Ken Griffin started out trading convertible bonds from his Harvard dorm room. Paul Tudor Jones happily declared that a 1929-style crash would be 'total rock-and-roll' for him. Michael Steinhardt was capable of reducing underlings to sobs. 'All I want to do is kill myself,' one said. 'Can I watch?' Steinhardt responded. A saga of riches and rich egos, this is also a history of discovery. Drawing on insights from mathematics, economics and psychology to crack the mysteries of the market, hedge funds have transformed the world, spawning new markets in exotic financial instruments and rewriting the rules of capitalism. And while major banks, brokers, home lenders, insurers and money market funds failed or were bailed out during the crisis of 2007-9, the hedge-fund industry survived the test, proving that money can be successfully managed without taxpayer safety nets. Anybody pondering fixes to the financial system could usefully start here: the future of finance lies in the history of hedge funds.
A comprehensive guide to the burgeoning hedge fund industry Intended as a comprehensive reference for investors and fund and portfolio managers, Handbook of Hedge Funds combines new material with updated information from Francois-Serge L’habitant’s two other successful hedge fund books. This book features up-to-date regulatory and historical information, new case studies and trade examples, detailed analyses of investment strategies, discussions of hedge fund indices and databases, and tips on portfolio construction. Francois-Serge L’habitant (Geneva, Switzerland) is the Head of Investment Research at Kedge Capital. He is Professor of Finance at the University of Lausanne and at EDHEC Business School, as well as the author of five books, including Hedge Funds: Quantitative Insights (0-470-85667-X) and Hedge Funds: Myths & Limits (0-470-84477-9), both from Wiley.
One of the fastest growing investment sectors ever seen, hedge funds are considered by many to be exotic and inaccessible. This book provides an intensive learning experience, defining hedge funds, explaining hedge fund strategies while offering both qualitative and quantitative tools that investors need to access these types of funds. Topics not usually covered in discussions of hedge funds are included, such as a theoretical discussion of each hedge fund strategy followed by trading examples provided by successful hedge fund managers.
Hedge funds are perhaps the hottest topic in finance today, but little material of substance to date has been written on the topic. Most books focus on how to set up a hedge fund and the basic strategies, while few to none focus on what matters most: generating and understanding investment performance. This book takes an exclusive look at the latter, including an analysis of the areas that are most likely to generate strong investment returns OCo namely, the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The book will be invaluable to not only financial professionals, but anyone interested in learning about hedge funds and their future.
