Hedge-fund

Not just for people looking for a hedge fund! This book is a great introduction to modern portfolio theory and gives excellent descriptions of most key concepts. If there's a 2nd edition, I hope he will include more clarity and discussion of key terms like Sharpe Ratio (there are 2 definitions in customary usage, it's an important and misunderstood number, and there is no occurrence of "sharpe ratio" in the index), Alpha, Beta, R-squared, etc. Nonetheless, this book is extremely helpful and highly recommended.

This book is great!

I'm a Wall Street professional, but wanted to understand more about the hedge fund business. My initial concern was that this book was going to be too basic, but it was not. It provided excellent insights into the function of hedge funds in today's financial world, various types of investment strategies, the tools available to hedge funds and even went into regulatory and tax issues. It answered all the questions I had about hedge funds (and was afraid to ask). Yet while it was not too simplistic for someone already in the financial services world, it was also not too complicated for a layperson. This book will remain a valuable resource for me in the future.

This book presents a fantastic overview of the hedge fund industry. The intended target audience is hedge fund investors, which is reinforced by the author's credentials as an executive in a "Fund of Funds". In addition, the book would be very useful as an interview to financial markets, useful for business students interested in careers in trading or hedge funds.

The book starts with a broad overview of market theory, covering efficient markets, diversification theory and strengths and weaknesses of the "Random Walk" theory. The book then moves to an overview of the various investment tools available to hedge funds, such as going long and short on stock prices and volatility. (If you'd like to know in plain english what being "long volatility" means, this is a good book for you!) The book then covers legal, financial and operational details of running a fund. Lastly, it covers the various types of funds, such as equity funds and event driven funds. The scope of the material covers financial institutions such as investment banks and brokers that support hedge funds.

In summary, this was a very informative introductory text on both hedge funds and markets. It will be very useful to both new investors in hedge funds, as well as students of financial markets. The math is well explained, and there are only a few tough technical sections.

Enjoy!

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I used this book for my preparations towards CAIA Level 1 exam. And I am impressed. Mr. Anson is an authority and this is truely a great book for Alternative Investment aspirants.

If you want to have a very solid grasp of any of the following alternative investment approaches then this is the book you should turn to -

Hedge funds
Commodity and managed futures
Private equity (5 catagories)
....Venture Capital
....LBOs
....Mezzannine Financing
....Distressed Debt

....CrossOver/Interval/PIPE and PEPE funds
Credit derivatives
Corporate Governance

Mr. Anson helps you build strong fundamentals. Actually he clearly explains what constitutes Alternative Assets(Aha !!!) as against fundamental and/or capital assets and what is meant by alternative investment strategies.

This is followed by a rigorous analysis of the topics listed above in that order.

I particularly enjoyed his coverage of Hedge Funds. He explains each of the 10 Hedge Fund strategies in a systematic fashion. From a variety of angles including Market(S&P500), Risk, Regulatory, Due Diligence/Operational/Administrative perspective.

The coverage of Commodity Derivatives is also superb. Although confined to 4 chapters this coverage is sufficient to gain an intermediate level insight into the Commodities.

The coverage for Private Equity is less comprehensive(but good) compared to it's actual scope in real world. I particularly expected a more rigorous coverage for LBOs.

Although I did not touch credit derivatives and CorpGov I could tell you for sure that these topics must have been covered well.
As I read 19 out of 22 chapters.

To put it in a nutshell - This is a very good book for Hedge fund aspirants and prospective Alternative investment professionals.

For more info about CAIA please visit www.caia.org.

This is an exceptional book that does a great job of explaining the history, charter, rationale, mechanics and investing strategies of Fund of Funds. As hedge funds have exploded in popularity, they have become the investment world's "cocktail conversation" of choice, but most investors do not understand how these funds operate or even how they can be accessed and utilized as an investment option. Funds of Funds (FOFs) allow access to hedge funds - but similarly to hedge funds, these investment vehicles are misunderstood by many and remain shrouded to most investors. Joseph Nicholas's third book, Hedge Fund of Funds Investing, explains these alternative asset management firms in a clear and concise manner. I have read Mr. Nicholas's other books - this is his best work yet with thorough explanations and an easy, concise and powerful writing style.

Nicholas does a great job describing the evolution of FOFs and how they offer strategic, access and diversification advantages over investing in individual Hedge Funds. His descriptions of the FOFs mechanics and their multiple tiered structures illustrate clearly what goes on "behind the kimono" of the somewhat secretive alternative investment world. He illuminates how lockups, fees, redemptions and other restraints affect investment and fund selection - all imperatives that many investors may not readily understand.

Most importantly, as Nicholas has superior access to the data obtained through his firm, Hedge Fund Research, he is able to paint a very thorough picture of FOFs return over the years and how manager selection affects those returns. As an investor in hedge funds himself, Mr. Nicholas has developed impressive screening methodologies and describes these in detail in this book, both through direct explanation and case study.

This is a great book for anyone who has even a little uncertainty about the operations and/or the investment selection of FOFs. As a recent Wharton MBA myself, I know that many of these topics are not covered in classical investment training - it's just too recent of a trend. But FOFs are an explosive trend - with nearly 1/3 of all hedge fund investments - and one that all investors need to understand. Mr. Nicholas's book does an outstanding job in providing this background on the fundamentals of FOF investing.

The list of books written on hedge funds is a short one, and this book is certainly the finest on the subject. The professionals who contributed their specialized knowledge are of the highest caliber, and better yet, many of them can be reached for counsel. Any investor with the capacity to invest at this level ought to know the mechanics of the various methodologies as clearly presented by the authors. I found all of the information to be useable and valuable information with absolutely no filler. Particularly of interest to me was all of the legal, tax and regulatory information which quite literally provided me with a blueprint from which I will begin building my (as GP) Private Investment Partnership. This book will eliminate countless hours with a securities attorney because now I know exactly how to direct the counsel.

This book has many fine features but has two serious drawbacks as well.

On the positive side, I have never read a more complete polemic in favor of the hedge fund industry. He shreds EMF with loads of good evidence and humorous anecdotes. However, there seems to be a constant drive to reinforce this point. Unfortunately, it takes away from a more thorough analysis of the types of hedge fund investing.

Another problem with the book is that it has trouble discovering its audience. At times, we get detailed descriptions of what alpha and beta represent (Finance 101) and at other times, abstruse PM concepts are brushed over as common knowledge.

I would definitely recommend this book but I recommend that the reader is accompanied by a Dictionary of Finance and Investing.

The iceberg on the cover represents total risk-partly visible and partly not. Ineichen's point is that hedge fund or absolute return managers tackle total risk while their traditional mutual fund counterparts worry about only one part of it, namely the risk of straying from their benchmark. His extensive discussion contains worthy lessons for all investors who want to understand risk. While not every chapter may be useful for every reader, this book is an excellent place to learn about alternative investment strategies.

This is an excellent introduction for potential investors to assess risk and reward.

For more on new hedge fund products, hedge fund leverage, and off-balance sheet risk, I also highly recommend Tavakoli's "Credit Derivatives" 2nd Edition.

More quantitative than most other books on hedge funds, this volume provides a comprehensive look at the hottest investment vehicles at the moment. Starting with the history, the book discusses the structure, operations, strategies, and performance measures of hedge funds. Unlike books written by the president of HFR, which are purely marketing turd, this book has substance and can be kept as a solid reference. Minor problems include a few critical typos, some irrevelent charts, and choppy English in a few places -- and a high price. But these do not distract from the value this book, and I recommend it to all interested in the topic.

This is a good introduction into the subject. Well researched. If you only buy two books on the topic, this should be one of them.

Lhabitant's "Hedge Funds: Myths and Limits" covers its subject from legal and tax aspects to quantitative and statistical finance. More than this, in line with the subtitle, the book debunks the myths and outlines the limits for the hedge fund industry. The critique delivered is however balanced, and the book manages to maintain a constructive as well as instructive tone. Different material is separated in a way that make the book a good read for both people outside the finance industry and quantitative analysts. Look for more on this at [webpage]

I've had the privledge to meet Ron and have learned a great deal from he and his team. His experience in both investing and analysing managers placis him in the rearified world of those with true insight. Reading his book will bring some of this long earned knowledge to you. The work is understandable and approachable, like Ron himself. Get the book. It will help.

The book is a complete collection of articles on the most widely implemented, and often misunderstood hedged investment strategies. For those seeking a deeper understanding of hedge fund investing, as well as insight into the thinking of many of the industry's thought leaders, this is the book.

Bought this book in anticipation of fresh ideas. For the beginner this is a great way to get the mind flowing with new thoughts.

Personally I didn't find that it sparked anything new for me. But what doesn't work for some may work for others. If your a seasoned trader I wouldn't get it, but if you are a beginner I would order it right now.

James Altucher is a professional money manager and a contributor to TheStreet.com who has assembled a collection of "20 successful uncorrelated strategies and techniques" for trading the markets. His first book effort is one of the most practical trading guides I have encountered.

What sets "Trade Like a Hedge Fund" apart is that we don't have to take the author's word that these strategies are successful. Included in every chapter are the specific rules for each strategy and the tested trading results over the recent past. I particularly like the fact that he has tested the results across broad market indices and individual equities. For example, Altucher creates his own version of the famous "Turtle" trend- following system and tests it on the S&P 500 Index, the NASDAQ 100 stocks, and a basket of uncorrelated stocks. This very much helps display the robustness of the underlying trading concept.

Among the specific strategies disclosed and tested are a unique method for trading the spread between S&P and NASDAQ stocks; an intraday method for trading the Cumulative NYSE TICK; a short-term trading system that makes use of Bollinger Bands; a technique for allocating money to bonds; and a straightforward method for arbitraging preferred and common stock of companies.

Where I think this book is strongest is in illustrating how a professional hedge fund manager thinks about the markets. Many of the strategies are designed to take advantage of extremes in the market, where inefficiencies are most likely to be present due to traders' panic and overconfidence. Altucher's creativity in searching for these inefficiencies stimulates the reader to engage in a similar search. Reading the chapter on the NYSE TICK, for example, I soon developed my own promising variation on the author's strategy.

Are there weaknesses in the book? I found the text to be clearly written and well-illustrated with charts and tables. The systems were designed and tested with the Wealth Lab program, but the specific code for each of the systems is not included in the text. An exception is the pairs trading system, which is one of the most creative strategies in the book. The strategies are geared more for swing and intermediate-term trading than "day-trading", with the TICK system a notable exception. My sense is that creative researchers could adapt some of Altucher's ideas to shorter-term trading--particularly the pairs trading technique and the strategy for buying market "crashes".

Altogether, "Trade Like a Hedge Fund" belongs to a genre of books inspired by the work of Victor Niederhoffer (who Altucher acknowledges in his introduction). The focus is on scientifically-tested trading concepts, not discretionary, subjective ones. Where Altucher may differ from Niederhoffer is in his willingness to adapt traditional technical analysis tools (such as Bollinger Bands and gaps) to quant trading. As a matter of disclosure, let me say that I have corresponded with Altucher about his ideas, but this review was not solicited by him or his editor (who happens to be my editor as well). The best thing I can say about the text is that it has given me ideas for my own research and trading. I can't say that about many trading books.

Brett Steenbarger
www.brettsteenbarger.com

When I was on the board of a not-for-profit organization, I asked one of the major contributors for what amounted to a 25-fold increase in funding. He politely declined, telling me, "Stick to the meat and potatoes issues."

Well, "meat and potatoes" is what you get with Altucher's book. It's chock-full of techniques and mechanisms successful pro's use to earn ongoing, market-beating profits for their clients. From Page One, it's clear this is a no-nonsense read. Altucher doesn't waste the reader's time spewing self-aggrandizing war-stories, nor does he find himself mired in personal biases or widely-held market fantasies. Rather, he gets right down to the business of trading, taking a realistic, "whatever works" approach, including methods based in both counting (statistical analysis) and what is popularly referred to as "technical analysis." There is discussion of trading gaps, spreads and "the tick," moving averages and bands, and other lesser-known techniques including buying bankruptcies, taking advantage of option expiration day, and deletions from indexes. Each is clearly explained, using real-world examples, and all are augmented with very well done charts, graphs and data tables. Throughout, Altucher debunks a number of market myths and he kindly includes a short chapter on "what doesn't work."

Mind you, this book is more for seasoned investors than it is for rookies, though aspiring novices need not be discouraged from buying it and studying the techniques. It's about "trading," which is significantly different from longer-term, buy-and-hold "investing," and not to be confused with risky "day-trading." To make best use of the material, one should have a reasonable market vocabulary and it wouldn't hurt to have a few math skills, but if not, you'll still be able to make plenty of sense out of Altucher's plain speaking.

The principal criticism of "trading systems" is that once they're made known, they won't work anymore, or for very long thereafter. This is quite true. I've heard some say about Altucher's book, "Gee, how could he do this? Once the word's out, we won't be able to trade these again." Wrong. What Altucher offers is NOT a "no-brainer-get-rich-quick-doing-things-my-way" trading system designed to make the author rich by doing nothing more than selling books to the unsuspecting wannabe. If that's what you want, don't buy this book. What it is, and why you should buy this book, is a collection of proven professional techniques that, when applied thoughtfully and within reason, can over time help to make one a very successful trader.

That this book has been bundled with Niederhoffer's "Practical Speculation," and that Altucher mentions this and its predecessor "Education of a Speculator" first among all books in his reading list is telling. Niederhoffer has indeed written the Old and New Testaments of Market Speculation, and in "Trade Like a Hedge Fund," Altucher has written the Concordance. The bottom line? If you're a seasoned investor or an aspiring rookie, and you want to learn to be a successful trader, you can't afford not to own this book.

The report has a clean, simple and well-organized flow for someone trying to break into the hedge fund industry and was very useful, contains really good information on how to prepare for hedge fund interviews and what SEC, Bloomberg and online resources to access when researching particular hedge funds.

The report is very good at identifying free online resources to get at hedge fund holdings and PM information and strong sample resumes for various types of analyst and trader positions. Also good at preparing me for interview-type questions based on fund investment strategy.

As a recent graduate of Harvard I used "Hedge Me" to prepre for a round of 3 interviews in NY. I eventually received 2 job offers and now work at a major fund located in mid-town.

This book allowed me to speak intelligently about the sector. While I had majored in economics, I had little practical understanding of the nuts and bolts functioning of a hedge fund.

From salaries, to trading techniques, to what a firm looks for in making hiring decesions, this easy-to read pamphlet made my interviewing expereince much easier. There's not another book that I know of that explains its subject in a more precise and clear fashion.

Way too superficial for the institutional investors... Although probably a nice start for privates it does not provide any indepth insight into the strategies employed by hedge fund managers or the risks involved.... For the professional investor I would recommend "Absolute Returns" from Ineichen, which covers the entire spectrum, from indepth analysis of the strategies employed to an extensive overview of market risk factors....

Author has good writing style and the book is laid out well. It is a quick and easy read. Contains good tips on where to get more info on hedge funds and how to perform some basic due diligence. Great for people who are thinking about investing in hedge funds and who don't have finance background. Books does fall short on explaining the risks inherent in many hedge fund strategies.

Neil Chelo, CFA

This book is worth reading!