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Description: In 1990 hedge funds managed assets worth around $39 billion. By mid-2007 that figure had grown a staggering $1.7 trillion. Equally staggering is the amount of money successful hedge fund managers earn — in 2006 the top 25 earned more than $14 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 summer 2007.
Most people have heard of hedge funds but few are clear about what they are or what they do. This guide, written by a leading financial journalist, 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 or 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.
Hedge fund managers are the new "masters of the universe". The best earn more than $1 billion a year and are so sought after that they can afford to turn investor money away. The funds they run have to some extent established an alternative financial system, replacing banks as lenders to risky companies, acting as providers of liquidity to markets and insurers of last resort for risks such as hurricanes, and replacing pension funds and mutual funds as the most significant in many companies - even in some cases buying companies outright. This lively and admirably clear guide sheds much needed light on the world of hedge funds by explaining what they are, what they do, who the mainplayers are, the regulations affecting them, the arguments as to wheather they are a force for good or bad, and what the future holds for them.
Contents: Introduction • Hedge fund taxonomy • The players • Funds-of-funds • Hedge funds for and against • The future of hedge funds • References • Glossary • Appendix : Hedge fund facts and figures • IndexISBN - 9781846680557
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Pages : 134
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