The dismal truth about hedge funds and how investors can get a greater share of the profits

Shocking but true: if all the money that's ever been invested in hedge funds had been in treasury bills, the results would have been twice as good.

Although hedge fund managers have earned some great fortunes, investors as a group have done quite poorly, particularly in recent years. Plagued by high fees, complex legal structures, poor disclosure, and return chasing, investors confront surprisingly meager results. Drawing on an insider's view of industry growth during the 1990s, a time when hedge fund investors did well in part because there were relatively few of them, "The Hedge Fund Mirage" chronicles the early days of hedge fund investing before institutions got into the game and goes on to describe the seeding business, a specialized area in which investors provide venture capital-type funding to promising but undiscovered hedge funds. Today's investors need to do better, and this book highlights the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the returns and risks are biased in favor of the hedge fund manager, and how investors and allocators can redress the imbalance.The surprising frequency of fraud, highlighted with several examples that the author was able to avoid through solid due diligence, industry contacts, and some luckWhy new and emerging hedge fund managers are where generally better returns are to be found, because most capital invested is steered towards apparently safer but less profitable large, established funds rather than smaller managers that evoke the more profitable 1990s

Hedge fund investors have had it hard in recent years, but "The Hedge Fund Mirage" is here to change that, by turning the tables on conventional wisdom and putting the hedge fund investor back on top.

Integral Urbanism is an ambitious and forward-looking theory of urbanism that offers a new model of urban life. Nan Ellin's model stands as an antidote to the pervasive problems engendered by modern and postmodern urban planning and architecture: sprawl, anomie, a pervasive culture - and architecture - of fear in cities, and a disregard for environmental issues. Instead of the reactive and escapist tendencies characterizing so much contemporary urban development, Ellin champions an 'integral' approach that reverses the fragmentation of our landscapes and lives through proactive design solutions.

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, many will agree that it is time for a fresh approach to portfolio management. "The Complete Guide to Portfolio Construction and Management" provides practical investment advice for building a robust, diversified portfolio.

Written by a high-profile investment adviser, this book reveals a practical portfolio management framework and new approach to portfolio construction based on four key market forces: macro, fundamental, technical, and behavioural. It is an insight that takes the focus off numbers, looking instead at the role of risk and behavior in finance.

As we have seen with the recent finance meltdown, traditional portfolio management techniques are flawed. Investors need to understand those flaws and learn how to incorporate risk management and behavioral finance into their asset management strategies.

With a foreword by industry leader Francois-Serge L'habitant, this is your one-stop guide, with new ways for you to manage, grow and preserve your investment portfolio, even in uncertain markets.

Roger Murray (1911-1998) was a crucial figure in the history of value investing. A financial professional, economist, adviser to members of Congress, and educator, Murray was the successor to the legendary Benjamin Graham as professor of the securities analysis course at Columbia Business School. There, he mentored generations of students, including Mario Gabelli, Charles Royce, Leon G. Cooperman, and Art Samberg. This book offers a compelling account of Murray's multifaceted career alongside a series of remarkable lectures he gave late in his life that encapsulated his philosophy of investing. The investing professionals and educators Paul Johnson and Paul D. Sonkin chronicle Murray's life and accomplishments, capturing his professional triumphs, theoretical insights, and lasting legacy. They highlight Murray's educational philosophy and mentorship, including personal recollections from his students about his teaching and influence. The Enduring Value of Roger Murray features the transcripts of four lectures Murray gave in 1993, hosted by Gabelli, which became legendary in the investing community. These lectures inspired Bruce Greenwald to ask Murray to co-teach a security analysis course, leading to the resurrection of value investing education at Columbia Business School, which had waned after Murray's retirement in 1977. Annotated by Johnson and Sonkin, these lectures are now available to a wide audience for the first time. They will be illuminating and instructive for all value investing students and practitioners today.

The FX options market represents one of the most liquid and strongly competitive markets in the world, and features many technical subtleties that can seriously harm the uninformed and unaware trader.

This book is a unique guide to running an FX options book from the market maker perspective. Striking a balance between mathematical rigour and market practice and written by experienced practitioner Antonio Castagna, the book shows readers how to correctly build an entire volatility surface from the market prices of the main structures.

Starting with the basic conventions related to the main FX deals and the basic traded structures of FX options, the book gradually introduces the main tools to cope with the FX volatility risk. It then goes on to review the main concepts of option pricing theory and their application within a Black-Scholes economy and a stochastic volatility environment. The book also introduces models that can be implemented to price and manage FX options before examining the effects of volatility on the profits and losses arising from the hedging activity.

Coverage includes: how the Black-Scholes model is used in professional trading activitythe most suitable stochastic volatility modelssources of profit and loss from the Delta and volatility hedging activityfundamental concepts of smile hedgingmajor market approaches and variations of the Vanna-Volga methodvolatility-related Greeks in the Black-Scholes modelpricing of plain vanilla options, digital options, barrier options and the less well known exotic optionstools for monitoring the main risks of an FX options' book

The book is accompanied by a CD Rom featuring models in VBA, demonstrating many of the approaches described in the book.

This textbook helps students truly understand how to apply the principles behind corporate finance in a real world context from both a firm and investor perspective. In its second edition, this text focuses on traditional theory applied to a holistic and realistic business case study, written as a novel set in current times so that all readers can relate. As such, this textbook offers readers both a quantitative and qualitative perspective on topics such as capital budgeting, time value of money, corporate risk, and capital structure. The sections are laid out to mirror the financial decision process, making it easier for readers to grasp the idea of the corporate financial life cycle. New topics such as socially responsible investing and private capital markets are also incorporated into this edition. Finally, PowerPoint slides, answer keys and data sets are available online for instructors.

Real estate, like any other investment, is a means to an end: that end might be a secondary source of income, a strategic plan for your retirement, or a way to attain complete financial independence. Whatever your goal is, you've decided that real estate is a tool you want to use. So how do you use it? How do you make it work for you and avoid getting burned in the market? And how much of it do you need to fulfill your ambitions?

Peter Kinch is one of Canada's top mortgage brokers and has helped thousands of investors clarify their dreams and turn them into reality. In "The Canadian Real Estate Action Plan," Peter walks you through one of his investor workshops, helping you develop not just "a "plan, but "your "plan, including: Defining your end goal, and how much real estate you need to achieve it Determining the kinds of investments that are right for you Identifying obstacles to your success, and overcoming them Discovering financing options and solutions, including recent changes that affect investors

New investors will get the thorough background information they need to get started, while more experienced investors will benefit from exploring alternative options and lesser-known strategies. Both will see how long-term thinking is the key to their portfolio's continued profitability.

The best way to achieve your goals is to plan for your success, and there's no better tool to help you do just that than "The Canadian Real Estate Action Plan."

PRAISE FOR HEDGEHOGGING

"Barton Biggs writes about markets with grater style, clarity, and insight than any other observer of the Wall Street scene. his new book, Hedgehogging, entertains immensely even as it provides countless valuable lessons regarding hedge funds and the investment world they inhabit." - David F. Swensen, Chief Investment Officer, Yale University

"Since the glory days of the tech bubble, investing has become a perilous enterprise. Not the least for those running money in the proliferating hedge fund business. In hedgehogging, Biggs offers a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes at the personalities and egos making decisions about the enormous sums being dumped en masse into these funds. This book is great, It's full of personal anecdotes and critical insights from an insider's insider. You should not even consider giving money to anyone on Wall Street ever again until you've read this book." - Addison Wiggin, Agora Financial LLC, author of the New York Times bestseller The Demise of the Dollar, and coauthor of Empire of Debt

Rare is the Opportunity to chat with a legendary figure and hear the unvarnished truth about what really goes on behind the scenes. Hedgehogging represents just such an opportunity, allowing you to step inside the world of Wall Street with Barton Biggs as he discusses investing in general, hedge funds in particular, and how he has learned to find and profit from the best moneymaking opportunities in an eat-what-you-kill, cutthroat investment world.

The go-to valuation guide for more than 30 years has been updated with need-to-know information about taxes, financial reporting, compliance, and more When it was first published in 1981, Valuing a Business set a new standard in business publishing. Now in its sixth edition, this landmark guide is essential for anyone involved in business valuation-from CEOs, accountants, and lawyers to judges, financial planners, and small-business owners. Covering both the concepts of business valuation and practices for doing it right, this is by far the most comprehensive book on the subject. Valuing a Business, Sixth Edition provides detailed answers to virtually every question on the topic, ranging from executive compensation and lost profits analysis to ESOP issues and valuation discounts. Updates include: * Hundreds of new court decisions shedding new light on aspects of valuation * Checklists for reviewing reports-perfect for practitioners and attorneys * Risk-measurement methods for estimating cost of capital * Data sources for estimating discounts for lack of control, liquidity, and marketability* New chapters on fairness opinions/solvency opinions and valuation of REITs

Quality. We all make judgments about it every day. Yet articulating a clear definition of quality in an investing context is challenging. This book addresses the challenge, and distills years of practical investing experience into a definitive account of this under-explored investment philosophy. Finance theory has it that abnormal outcomes do not persist, that exceptional performance will soon enough become average performance. Quality investing involves seeking companies with the right attributes to overcome these forces of mean reversion and, crucially, owning these outstanding companies for the long term. This book pinpoints and explains the characteristics that increase the probability of a company prospering over time - as well as those that hinder such chances. Throughout, a series of fascinating real-life case studies illustrate the traits that signify quality, as well as some that flatter to deceive. The authors' firm, AKO Capital, has a strong track record of finding and investing in quality companies - helping it deliver a compound annual growth rate more than double that of the market since inception.Quality Investing sheds light on the investment philosophy, processes and tough lessons that have contributed to this consistent outperformance.

The modern finance paradigm is incomplete. Obvious gaps include poor performance of professional investors, puzzles enough in equity markets to support a sub-discipline of behavioural finance that patches over irrational biases and mispricings, and chronic, but inexplicable, financial crises. As with so many other disciplines, existing finance theory explains less than a tenth of what we see in markets and investment. A new paradigm of investment is needed. New Principles of Equity Investment brings together robust scientific methodology with empirical evidence to propose a new paradigm of equity investment. It begins with a wide-ranging review of investor practices using mainly US and European research and surveys, and then outlines the nature of investment risk, the links between equity returns and institutional factors, and the structure of equity markets. The result is a sophisticated description of what we know is true about investment, and a frank assessment of the limitations to investment expertise. The author then presents a coherent, workable theory of equity prices that can be applied in practice by equity investors, and explains logical investor behaviours that have been thought of as biases. Written by an academic with many years of practical investment experience, this book will provide new insights for equity investors who are looking for new perspectives and a better understanding of today's complex markets.

Robo-Advisory is a field that has gained momentum over recent years, propelled by the increasing digitalization and automation of global financial markets. More and more money has been flowing into automated advisory, raising essential questions regarding the foundations, mechanics, and performance of such solutions. However, a comprehensive summary taking stock of this new solution at the intersection of finance and technology with consideration for both aspects of theory and implementation has so far been wanting. This book offers such a summary, providing unique insights into the state of Robo-Advisory. Drawing on a pool of expert authors from within the field, this edited collection aims at being the vital go-to resource for academics, students, policy-makers, and practitioners alike wishing to engage with the topic. Split into four parts, the book begins with a survey of academic literature and its key insights paired with an analysis of market developments in Robo-Advisory thus far. The second part tackles specific questions of implementation, which are complemented by practical case studies in Part III. Finally, the fourth part looks ahead to the future, addressing questions of key importance such as artificial intelligence, big data, and social networks. Thereby, this timely book conveys both a comprehensive grasp of the status-quo as well as a guiding outlook onto future trends and developments within the field.

The definitive introduction to FOREX trading

"Getting Started in Currency Trading, Fourth Edition" is both an introduction and a reference manual for beginning and intermediate traders. Starting with a description of the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) market and a brief history, the book includes an invaluable section made up of relevant FOREX terms clearly defined using examples. The FOREX market has grown substantially and evolved dramatically in recent years, and this new edition is designed to help the reader to adapt and take advantage of these changes.

Including coverage of how to open a trading account, a step-by-step walk through the physical processes of placing and liquidating currency orders, and information on trading strategy and tactics complete with fundamental and technical analysis, the book has everything needed to assist the trader in the decision making process.New edition is revised and expanded to take into account all of the recent changes in the currency marketNow includes a step-by-step introduction for the new trader and additional material on regulationFOREX arithmetic calculations are presented in a clear, easy to understand way Recommendations, guidelines, and caveats appear throughout the book

This new edition of "Getting Started in Currency Trading" contains significant new information, including a chapter on computers and FOREX, managed FOREX, and new information about regulation, alongside the author's successful trading plan, designed to help the reader put it all together.

Praise for JOHN NEFF on investing

"This book offers important insights into the methods and long-term rewards of ‘value’ investing. The serious investor will not want to miss this clear exposition of the successful Neff technique."–BURTON G. MALKIEL, Author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street

"A must read for anyone who is serious about investing."–JOHN REED, Chairman and Co-CEO, Citigroup Inc.

During his thirty-one years as portfolio manager of Vanguard’s Windsor and Gemini Funds, John Neff beat the market twenty-two times while posting a fifty-seven-fold increase in an initial stake–making Windsor the largest mutual fund in the United States in the process.

Now, the "investor’s investor" is ready to share the strategies that earned him international recognition. He delineates, for the first time, the principles of his phenomenally successful low p/e approach to investing, and describes the strategies, techniques, and decisions that earned him a place alongside Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch in the pantheon of modern investment wizards. Packed with advice, guidance, and invaluable lessons in investing, John Neff on Investing reveals for the first time the long-heralded investment strategies of a Wall Street genius.

A detailed guide to overcoming the most frequently encountered psychological pitfalls of investing

Bias, emotion, and overconfidence are just three of the many behavioral traits that can lead investors to lose money or achieve lower returns. Behavioral finance, which recognizes that there is a psychological element to all investor decision-making, can help you overcome this obstacle.

In "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing," expert James Montier takes you through some of the most important behavioral challenges faced by investors. Montier reveals the most common psychological barriers, clearly showing how emotion, overconfidence, and a multitude of other behavioral traits, can affect investment decision-making.Offers time-tested ways to identify and avoid the pitfalls of investor biasAuthor James Montier is one of the world's foremost behavioral analystsDiscusses how to learn from our investment mistakes instead of repeating themExplores the behavioral principles that will allow you to maintain a successful investment portfolio

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing" will enable you to identify and eliminate behavioral traits that can hinder your investment endeavors and show you how to go about achieving superior returns in the process.

Praise for "The Little Book Of Behavioral Investing"

""The Little Book of Behavioral Investing" is an important book for anyone who is interested in understanding the ways that human nature and financial markets interact."
--Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics, Duke University, and author of Predictably Irrational

"In investing, success meansbeing on the right side of most trades. No book provides a better starting point toward that goal than this one."
--Bruce Greenwald, Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management, Columbia Business School

"'Know thyself.' Overcoming human instinct is key to becoming a better investor. You would be irrational if you did not read this book."
--Edward Bonham-Carter, Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer, Jupiter Asset Management

"There is not an investor anywhere who wouldn't profit from reading this book."
--Jeff Hochman, Director of Technical Strategy, Fidelity Investment Services Limited

"James Montier gives us a very accessible version of why we as investors are so predictably irrational, and a guide to help us channel our 'Inner Spock' to make better investment decisions. Bravo "
--John Mauldin, President, Millennium Wave Investments

This work contains primary research texts regarding two centuries of the development of corporate finance in the US and Great Britain. It is designed to help scholars, financial managers, and public policymakers to investigate the historical background of issues in contemporary corporate finance, including: corporate structure and governance; securities issuance; direct and indirect finance; and fraud detection. Key texts in the set include detailed securities market primers like thomas Fortune's Epitome of the Stocks and Publick Funds and Charles Fenn's Compendium of the English and Foreign Funds. There are extended discussions of policy issues contained in Observations on Unlimited and Limited Liability, by William Hawes; two early, specialized treatises on corporate financial law; descriptions of everyday corporate financial practices, from George Rae's The Internal Management of a Country Bank; and early theoretical treatments of corporate finance, including excerpts from Thorstein Veblen's Theory of Business Enterprise and Alfred Marshall's Industry and Trade.

Technological innovations are altering the traditional value chain in securities trading. Hitherto the order handling, i.e. the appropriate implementation of a general trading decision into particular orders, has been a core competence of brokers. Labeled as Algorithmic Trading, the automation of this task recently found its way both into the brokers' portfolio of service offerings as well as to their customers' trading desks. The software performing the order handling thereby constantly monitors the market(s) in real-time and further evaluates historical data to dynamically determine appropriate points in time for trading. Within only a few years, this technology propagated itself among market participants along the entire value chain and has nowadays gained a significant market share on securities markets worldwide. Surprisingly, there has been only little research analyzing the impact of this special type of trading on markets. Markus Gsell's book aims at closing this gap by analyzing the drivers for adoption of this technology, the impact the application of this technology has on markets on a macro level, i.e. how the market outcome is affected, as well as on a micro level, i.e. how the exhibited trading behavior of these automated traders differs from normal traders' behavior.

Fascinating insights into the hedge fund traders who consistently outperform the markets, in their own words

From bestselling author, investment expert, and Wall Street theoretician Jack Schwager comes a behind-the-scenes look at the world of hedge funds, from fifteen traders who've consistently beaten the markets. Exploring what makes a great trader a great trader, "Hedge Fund Market Wizards" breaks new ground, giving readers rare insight into the trading philosophy and successful methods employed by some of the most profitable individuals in the hedge fund business.Presents exclusive interviews with fifteen of the most successful hedge fund traders and what they've learned over the course of their careersIncludes interviews with Jamie Mai, Joel Greenblatt, Michael Platt, Ray Dalio, Colm O'Shea, Ed Thorp, and many moreExplains forty key lessons for tradersJoins "Stock Market Wizards, " "New Market Wizards, "and "Market Wizards" as the fourth installment of investment guru Jack Schwager's acclaimed bestselling series of interviews with stock market experts

A candid assessment of each trader's successes and failures, in their own words, the book shows readers what they can learn from each, and also outlines forty essential lessons--from finding a trading method that fits an investor's personality to learning to appreciate the value of diversification--that investment professionals everywhere can apply in their own careers.

Bringing together the wisdom of the true masters of the markets, "Hedge Fund Market Wizards" is a collection of timeless insights into what it takes to trade in the hedge fund world.

The concept of innovation is not new. It relates closely to the concept of change. Both are inevitable in today's and tomorrow's business environments. Standing still and hoping for the best is no longer a viable option. Innovation, by itself, is not a panacea for positive accomplishments. Of paramount importance to any business is how successful any innovation has actually been. This book brings together the knowledge, learning and experience from the author's practical applications of a newly developed and implemented Innovation Scorecard methodology to close exactly this shortfall. Their 'one stop shop' methodology is a complete end to end approach on how to measure the success of any innovation, irrespective of whether this relates to projects or business as usual work environments. This landmark methodology will provide the reader with an applied proof of concept across a range of business applications and a complete end to end process how to measure success including templates and worked examples. The book offers a starter-pack with suggested performance metrics to get the reader on the road to measuring the success of innovation and to encourage readers to develop how they view and feel about measuring the success of innovation. Furthermore, the book provides the reader with everything they need to know, ranging from a simple to follow user-friendly process to the application of suggested performance metrics and how to apply these in any business work environment, which is a requisite for creating a working environment within the reader's organisation where innovation and forward-thinking are both encouraged and supported.

This book analyses different strategies and their results in implementing financial regulation in terms of rule-making, public enforcement and private enforcement. The analysis is based on a comparative study of conduct of business regulation on mis-selling of financial instruments in the UK and South Korea. It extends into liquidity regulation in the banking sector and credit rating agency regulation. The book concludes that in rule-making, purposive rules are more effective for achieving regulatory goals with minimal undesirable results, but a rule-making system with purposive rules can only work on a foundation of trust among rule-makers, enforcers and the regulates, that with respect to public enforcement, the enforcement strategies should combine the compliance-oriented and deterrence-oriented approaches and be continuously adjusted based on close monitoring of the regulatory outcomes and that in private enforcement, regulation should be instituted as the minimum requirement in private law.

The best-selling trading book of all time updated for the new era The New Trading for a Living updates a modern classic, popular worldwide among both private and institutional traders. This revised and expanded edition brings time-tested concepts in gear with today's fast-moving markets, adding new studies and techniques for the modern trader. This classic guide teaches a calm and disciplined approach to the markets. It emphasizes risk management along with self-management and provides clear rules for both. The New Trading for a Living includes templates for rating stock picks, creating trade plans, and rating your own readiness to trade. It provides the knowledge, perspective, and tools for developing your own effective trading system. All charts in this book are new and in full color, with clear comments on rules and techniques. The clarity of this book's language, its practical illustrations and generous sharing of the essential skills have made it a model for the industry often imitated but never duplicated. Both new and experienced traders will appreciate its insights and the calm, systematic approach to modern markets. The New Trading for a Living will become an even more valuable resource than the author's previous books: * Overcome barriers to success and develop stronger discipline * Identify asymmetrical market zones, where rewards are higher and risks lower * Master money management as you set entries, targets and stops * Use a record-keeping system that will make you into your own teacher Successful trading is based on knowledge, focus, and discipline. The New Trading for a Living will lift your trading to a higher level by sharing classic wisdom along with modern market tools.