How to Make Money Like Top Hedge Fund Managers

How to Make Money Like Top Hedge Fund Managers: Secrets of America's Finance Industry (2013)

A hedge fund is a collective investment scheme, often structured as a limited partnership, that invests private capital speculatively to maximize capital appreciation. Hedge funds tend to invest in a diverse range of markets, investment instruments, and strategies; today the term "hedge fund" refers more to the structure of the investment vehicle than the investment techniques. Though they are privately owned and operated, hedge funds are subject to the regulatory restrictions of their respective countries. U.S. regulations, for example, limit hedge fund participation to certain classes of investors and also limit the total number of investors allowed in the fund.

Hedge funds are often open-ended and allow additions or withdrawals by their investors. A hedge fund's value is calculated as a share of the fund's net asset value, meaning that increases and decreases in the value of the fund's investment assets (and fund expenses) are directly reflected in the amount an investor can later withdraw.

Most hedge fund investment strategies aim to achieve a positive return on investment regardless of whether markets are rising or falling ("absolute return"). Hedge fund managers typically invest money of their own in the fund they manage, which serves to align their own interests with those of the investors in the fund. A hedge fund typically pays its investment manager an annual management fee, which is a percentage of the assets of the fund, and a performance fee if the fund's net asset value increases during the year. Some hedge funds have several billion dollars of assets under management (AUM). As of 2009, hedge funds represented 1.1% of the total funds and assets held by financial institutions. As of April 2012, the estimated size of the global hedge fund industry was US$2.13 trillion.

Because hedge funds are not sold to the general public or retail investors, the funds and their managers have historically been exempt from some of the regulation that governs other funds and investment managers with regard to how the fund may be structured and how strategies and techniques are employed. Regulations passed in the United States and Europe after the 2008 credit crisis were intended to increase government oversight of hedge funds and eliminate certain regulatory gaps.

During the US bull market of the 1920s, there were numerous private investment vehicles available to wealthy investors. Of that period, the best known today, is the Graham-Newman Partnership founded by Benjamin Graham and Jerry Newman which was cited by Warren Buffett, in a 2006 letter to the Museum of American Finance, as an early hedge fund.

Financial journalist Alfred W. Jones is credited with coining the phrase "hedged fund" and is erroneously credited with creating the first hedge fund structure in 1949. Jones referred to his fund as being "hedged", a term then commonly used on Wall Street, to describe the management of investment risk due to changes in the financial markets. In 1968 there were almost 200 hedge funds, and the first fund of funds that utilized hedge funds were created in 1969 in Geneva.

In the 1970s, hedge funds specialized in a single strategy, and most fund managers followed the long/short equity model. Many hedge funds closed during the recession of 1969--70 and the 1973--1974 stock market crash due to heavy losses. They received renewed attention in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, the number of hedge funds increased significantly, funded with wealth created during the 1990s stock market rise.[9] The increased interest was due to the aligned-interest compensation structure (i.e. common financial interests) and the promise of above high returns. Over the next decade hedge fund strategies expanded to include: credit arbitrage, distressed debt, fixed income, quantitative, and multi-strategy. US institutional investors such as pension and endowment funds began allocating greater portions of their portfolios to hedge funds.