Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196574 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
"This is a very good place to investigate the reality of hedge funds." (Pensions World, October 2007)

From the Inside Flap
“This book is a comprehensive review covering all aspects of hedge fund trading strategies. The real-life examples are particularly insightful for a beginner. A must-read for anyone involved with the hedge fund industry.”

—Narayan Y. Naik

Associate Professor of Finance,

Director, BNP Paribas Hedge Fund Centre

“This excellent introduction to the world of hedge funds takes the reader on a tour of the wide variety of strategies employed by these often mysterious but increasingly important investment institutions. Both students and professionals will value the nicely organized presentation that combines insightful discussions with many interesting facts and figures.”

—Robert Stambaugh

Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Finance,

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

From the Back Cover
Since the first hedge fund was launched in 1949 by Alfred Winslow Jones, the industry has grown impressively. In 2005 it reached the record size of 1.3 trillion dollars and 8000 hedge funds. Responsible for a big slice of the daily trading volumes of financial markets, hedge funds are among the top clients for brokers, given the level of trading fees they generate.

The hedge fund world is a very heterogeneous one: there are hedge funds that encompass only a few people and those with trading floors bigger than soccer fields. The hedge fund world seems to be the place where the ability to generate positive uncorrelated returns resides, even though performances are not publicly disclosed.

And still, this remarkable phenomenon is surrounded by an aura of mystery. Using real-life examples and case studies, this book provides an intensive learning experience, and helps readers understand the investment strategies of hedge funds showing them how they can invest to make money in an uncorrelated way with financial markets.

Customer Reviews

It is what it is
The best attribute of this book is that it doesn't mislead the book buyer by presenting a big and juicy carrot on its title, only to fail the reader expectations throughout the book. In a nutshell, if you want to know what does mean covertible arbitrage, market neutral, distressed securities, merger arbitrage and so so, you'll get a detailed answer in there.

Chances are, however, the book buyer is searching for sources of inspiration for her own investment portfolio or her hedge fund selection process. In that case, the book is not worth it because it doesn't provide any evidence of what could be the strategies that might benefit the most from the current state in financial markets or which might benefit from future states or under uncertainty, etc. The book is just a compilation of known hedge fund strategies, a technical dictionary if you will, where you get a detailed explanation of this and that but no insight on when or where.

Quick and easy to read overview
To get a quick overview of hedge-fund strategies, this is the book to read. Descriptions are not so precise that you can start trading afterwards, but sufficiently detailed that get an idea of what's going on without resorting to too many unexplained lingo.

Good overview of the different strategies, but...
If you want to have an overview of the top hedge fund strategies, this is a good book to read. It is an overview though. It does not go deep into each strategy, and at times, the explanations are superficial, or inaccurate, ex: when talking about merger arbitrage the author mentions the collapse of the tender offer for American Airlines in 1989.... but it was really the inability to finance a going private transaction for United Airlines at $180 plus per share that marked the end of the LBO driven bull market of the 80's.