Hedge Hunters by Katherine Burton
May 27th, 2008Title: Hedge Hunters
Author: Katherine Burton
Publisher: Bloomberg Press (2007)
I am pretty interested in financial stuff, so when I got the opportunity to review Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning by Katherine Burton, I jumped at the chance. I am glad I did, because the book is entirely fascinating! The book is basically a collection of mini biographies of the best hedge fund managers around. They give their keys to success, how they’ve avoided disaster (for the most part), and their favorite managers. But, maybe we should start at the beginning.
A hedge fund, according to Wikipedia, is a private investment fund that charges a performance fee and management fee. In order to invest with a hedge fund you must qualify. In order to qualify you must have A LOT of money. Hedge funds manage billions of dollars, so they don’t mess around with small time investors. As the book shows, there are a lot of different styles of hedge funds based on the level of risk/reward you (assuming you have millions and millions already!) are looking for.
Hedge Hunters is really interesting because it gets inside the office and gets personal with the managers. Why are these money managers so successful? As I said before, there are a wide variety of styles that these managers employ. Some are very conservative and don’t promise huge returns. Some are far more willing to take risks in order to obtain massive returns. One consistentcy between all of the managers is that they aim to make money no matter what direction the market is going. Up or down…if they aren’t profiting then they aren’t happy.
Another consistency between all of these managers is how much time they take researching the companies and management. There are a lot of money managers out there on Wall Street and around the country/world…but it seems to me that the best ones are the ones who take their time and make the extra effort to really analyze a company. That is where they find the under and over valued companies to bet on. And that is where they make their money.
Burton does a fantastic job of keeping the book interesting and not just listing the record of the managers. Not all of their advice is meaningful to the normal investors of the world, but the basic premise of research and patience rings out throughout the book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in investing and personal finance. You will learn something if you read this book!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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