More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby
The book More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby starts with the first hedge fund created about 50 years ago by Alfred Winslow Jones, though the hedge funds started to flourish only in 1990s.
It was the time when famous investors such as George Soros, Julian Robertson and the like started to charm the financial whizzes about their financial skills.
According to the book, the success of the hedge funds came from the ability of the funds to quickly shift the huge amount of money pooled from wealthy investors as per the market conditions.
The bets are placed on the rise and fall of the investments and the name of the funds came from combination of going long on some stocks and short on others.
Better than Mutual Funds It has been observed in the book More Money Than God that the hedge funds have done better than the mutual funds, and at their peak, the funds had more than $2 trillion in assets.
That's not all, the leverage of the funds has not been counted yet, which is the borrowed money which is deployed by these firms to maximize their investments.
The leverage fund is probably a better name, since the word leverage appears in the introduction of the book about 20 times.
The Concept of Leverage and Associated Risks While the concept of leverage is very effective in maximizing gains, the same may make the hedge funds go bust during the times of bad judgment, as was evident during the credit crunch within the last couple of years.
The borrowed money serves as a multiplier during the good times, the same wipes out the investments when things do not go right.
For example, in 2008 the hedge funds suffered big losses (19% decline) which were the biggest in the history of the industry.
Well Known Names Are Exceptions The author Sebastian Mallaby of the book More Money Than God refers to the hedge funds and fund managers as the new elite since they charge hefty sums for the work done by them.
Still they are largely unknown people, who prefer to work in the background.
Some fund managers or investors are exceptions such as George Soros, who was born in Hungary and went on to become much more than a billionaire by placing huge bets from his office in New York.
There are other supremely well performing hedge fund managers such as Mr Julian Robertson who has done as well as did Warren Buffet and James Simons, who is probably the most successful, are largely unknown the world over.
Vivid Narrative Style Warren Buffet also has a deal with the regulators so that the news of his investments may be delayed.
Otherwise the copycats will pile on before he is done buying his own stocks.
In the same manner, the hedge fund managers also do not like it if their investments are publicized.
The narrative style of the author is very vivid and he purposefully presents the personalities portraits so he can clarify the way the industry works.
It was the time when famous investors such as George Soros, Julian Robertson and the like started to charm the financial whizzes about their financial skills.
According to the book, the success of the hedge funds came from the ability of the funds to quickly shift the huge amount of money pooled from wealthy investors as per the market conditions.
The bets are placed on the rise and fall of the investments and the name of the funds came from combination of going long on some stocks and short on others.
Better than Mutual Funds It has been observed in the book More Money Than God that the hedge funds have done better than the mutual funds, and at their peak, the funds had more than $2 trillion in assets.
That's not all, the leverage of the funds has not been counted yet, which is the borrowed money which is deployed by these firms to maximize their investments.
The leverage fund is probably a better name, since the word leverage appears in the introduction of the book about 20 times.
The Concept of Leverage and Associated Risks While the concept of leverage is very effective in maximizing gains, the same may make the hedge funds go bust during the times of bad judgment, as was evident during the credit crunch within the last couple of years.
The borrowed money serves as a multiplier during the good times, the same wipes out the investments when things do not go right.
For example, in 2008 the hedge funds suffered big losses (19% decline) which were the biggest in the history of the industry.
Well Known Names Are Exceptions The author Sebastian Mallaby of the book More Money Than God refers to the hedge funds and fund managers as the new elite since they charge hefty sums for the work done by them.
Still they are largely unknown people, who prefer to work in the background.
Some fund managers or investors are exceptions such as George Soros, who was born in Hungary and went on to become much more than a billionaire by placing huge bets from his office in New York.
There are other supremely well performing hedge fund managers such as Mr Julian Robertson who has done as well as did Warren Buffet and James Simons, who is probably the most successful, are largely unknown the world over.
Vivid Narrative Style Warren Buffet also has a deal with the regulators so that the news of his investments may be delayed.
Otherwise the copycats will pile on before he is done buying his own stocks.
In the same manner, the hedge fund managers also do not like it if their investments are publicized.
The narrative style of the author is very vivid and he purposefully presents the personalities portraits so he can clarify the way the industry works.