Guide to Hedge Funds

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.