All About Hedge Funds, Fully Revised Second Edition / Edition 2

by Ezra Zask

Overview

“Every investor stands to benefit from Zask’s long experience and winning narrative.” -- Donald H. Putnam, Managing Partner, Grail Partners LLC

"An easy-to-understand history lesson and guide to the often misunderstood world of hedge funds . . . a no-nonsense explanation of the industry written so that just about anyone can understand it. I highly recommend it." -- Mitch Ackles, President of The Hedge Fund Association

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO FIND BIG PROFITS IN HEDGE FUNDS

All About Hedge Funds, Second Edition, is an easy-to-understand introduction to using hedge funds in any investing strategy. Hedge fund founder and longtime expert on the subject Ezra Zask examines where the industry stands today and where it is headed to help you determine how best to use hedge funds in your own portfolio. All About Hedge Funds provides:

• A detailed history of the hedge fund industry
• Criticism--fair and unfair--of hedge funds
• Hedge fund investing strategies
• Information on using hedge funds to allocate your portfolio

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071768313
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	02/15/2013
Series:	All About... (McGraw-Hill)
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	725,826
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

EZRA ZASK is president of SFC Associates, LLC, a fi nancial consulting company. He has previously managed a hedge fund and fund of funds; managed large-scale tradingoperations for banks, and consulted on asset management, derivatives and risk management, and M&A for financial companies.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: Major Themes and Organization of the Book xvii

Part 1 Introduction to Hedge Funds

Chapter 1 What Is a Hedge Fund? 3

Chapter 2 Regulation of Hedge Funds 13

Chapter 3 Hedge Fund Organization 24

Chapter 4 Hedge Fund Service Providers 37

Part 2 Hedge Fund Toolkit

Chapter 5 Short Selling and Leverage 49

Chapter 6 Derivatives: Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction 62

Part 3 History and Overview of the Hedge Fund Industry

Chapter 7 History of Hedge Funds 81

Chapter 8 Hedge Funds, Shadow Banking, and Systemic Risk 93

Chapter 9 Key Events in the Development of Hedge Funds: Long-Term Capital Management and the Credit and Liquidity Crisis 103

Part 4 Hedge Fund Performance: Mounting Criticism and Changing Benchmarks

Chapter 10 Mounting Criticism of Hedge Fund Performance 119

Chapter 11 Is Smaller Better in Hedge Funds? 129

Chapter 12 Statistical Measures of Performance 135

Chapter 13 Aggregate Measures of Hedge Fund Performance 148

Chapter 14 Hedge Fund Returns from the Investors' Viewpoint 160

Part 5 Hedge Fund Strategies

Chapter 15 Overview of Hedge Fund Strategies 169

Chapter 16 Equity Hedge Strategies 175

Chapter 17 Event-Driven Strategies 195

Chapter 18 Relative Value Strategies 205

Chapter 19 Global Macro and Commodity Trading Adviser Strategies 216

Chapter 20 Hedge Fund of Funds 229

Part 6 Hedge Funds and Invesment Portfolios

Chapter 21 Modern Portfolio Theory and Efficient Market Hypothesis 247

Chapter 22 Behavioral Critique of Efficient Market Hypothesis 255

Chapter 23 Institutionalization of Hedge Funds 259

Chapter 24 Hedge Funds and Retail Investors 274

Part 7 Managing Hedge Fund Portfolios

Chapter 25 Manager Selection and Due Diligence 285

Chapter 26 Risk Management 291

Chapter 27 Recent Hedge Fund Controversies 301

Conclusion 309

Appendix A Model Due Diligence Questionnaire for Hedge Fund Investors 315

Appendix B Overview of Major Hedge Fund Replication Products 323

Appendix C Internet Resources for Hedge Fund News and Research 327

Appendix D Government Agencies That Oversee Hedge Funds 328

Glossary 334

Bibliography 347

Index 349