Guide to Hedge Funds: What They Are, What They Do, Their Risks, Their Advantages (The Economist) - Hardcover

Reseña del editor

Hedge fund managers are the new "masters of the universe." The best earn more than $1 billion a year and are so sought after that they can afford to turn investor money away. The funds they run have, to some extent, established an alternative financial system, replacing banks as lenders to risky companies, acting as providers of liquidity to markets and insurers of last resort for risks such as hurricanes, and replacing pension funds and mutual funds as the most significant investors in many companies—even in some cases buying companies outright. The revised and updated second edition of this lively guide sheds much needed light on the world of hedge funds by explaining what they are, what they do, who the main players are, the regulations affecting them, the arguments as to whether they are a force for good or bad, and what the future holds for them.

"More people have a view about hedge funds than know about them. Philip Coggan bridges the knowledge gap in this clearly written guide. Every chapter is a goldmine of information and analysis, making it easy to learn about hedge funds. No investor, no investment adviser, no trustee, no dinner-table conversationalist should express opinions on the sector until they have read this book."
—Elroy Dimson, BGI Professor of Investment Management, London Business School

"While much has been written about hedge fund strategies and their (occasionally spectacular) failures, we have not yet seen a general primer to help the investor understand the world of hedge funds. Philip Coggan presents us with exactly that—a well-written, succinct summary of a world we all need to understand better."
—Rob Arnott, Chairman of Research Affiliates and Editor Emeritus of the Financial Analysts Journal

Nota de la solapa

In 1990 hedge funds managed assets worth around $39 billion. At the peak in 2007 that figure had grown to a staggering $2 trillion. Equally staggering is the amount of money successful hedge fund managers earn?in 2008 the top 10 earned more than $10 billion between them. The returns hedge funds make can be substantial, as they should be, given the high fees they charge. But the losses can be substantial too?as some discovered during the credit crunch market upheaval that started in the summer of 2007.

Most people have heard of hedge funds but few are clear about what they are or what they do. The revised and updated second edition of this highly acclaimed guide deftly explains all you need to know about hedge funds in order to understand the nature of their business. Following an introduction there are six chapters:

• Hedge fund taxonomy

• The players

• Funds-of-funds

• Hedge fund regulation

• Hedge funds: for and against

• The future of hedge funds

And at the end of the book there is a glossary of terms used in association with hedge funds, together with a number of tables and charts showing hedge fund data over the years.