Hedge Funds For Dummies

If you want to diversify your portfolio and lower your risk
exposure with hedge funds, here's what you should know:
Hedge Funds For Dummies explains all the different types of
funds, explores the pros and cons of funds as an investment, shows
you how to find a good broker, and much more.

Authored by Ann Logue, a financial writer and hedge fund
specialist, this handy, friendly guide covers all the bases for
investors of all levels. Whether you're just building your
first portfolio or you've been investing for years,
you'll find everything you need to know inside:

• What a hedge fund is and what it does

• How hedge funds are structured

• Determining whether a hedge fund is right for your
  portfolio

• Calculating investment risk and return

• Short- and long-term tax issues

• Developing a hedge fund investment strategy

• Monitoring and profiting on macroeconomic trends

• Evaluating fund performance

• Evaluating hedge fund management

If you're investing for the future, you definitely want to
minimize your risk and maximize your returns. A balanced portfolio
with hedge funds is one of the best ways to achieve that sort of
balance. This book walks you step by step through the process of
evaluating and choosing funds, incorporating them into your
portfolio in the right amounts, and making sure they give you the
returns you expect and deserve. You'll learn all the ins and
outs of funds, including:

• What kind of fees you should expect to pay

• Picking a hedge fund advisor or broker

• Fulfilling paperwork and purchasing requirements

• Performing technical analysis and reading the data

• How to withdraw funds and handle the taxes

• Tracking fund performance yourself or through reporting
  services

• Hedge fund strategies for smaller portfolios

• Performing due diligence on funds that interest you

This friendly, to-the-point resource includes information you
can't do without, including sample portfolios that show you
how to invest wisely. Hedge funds are an important part of every
balanced portfolio, and this friendly guide tells how to use them
to your best advantage. With important resources, vital
information, and commonsense advice, Hedge Funds For Dummies
is the perfect resource for every investor interested in hedge
funds.

Auteur

Ann C. Logue, MBA, is a financial writer who has written extensively on investing and hedge funds.

Résumé
If you want to diversify your portfolio and lower your risk exposure with hedge funds, here's what you should know: Hedge Funds For Dummies explains all the different types of funds, explores the pros and cons of funds as an investment, shows you how to find a good broker, and much more. Authored by Ann Logue, a financial writer and hedge fund specialist, this handy, friendly guide covers all the bases for investors of all levels. Whether you're just building your first portfolio or you've been investing for years, you'll find everything you need to know inside:

• What a hedge fund is and what it does
• How hedge funds are structured
• Determining whether a hedge fund is right for your portfolio
• Calculating investment risk and return
• Short- and long-term tax issues
• Developing a hedge fund investment strategy
• Monitoring and profiting on macroeconomic trends
• Evaluating fund performance

• Evaluating hedge fund management
  If you're investing for the future, you definitely want to minimize your risk and maximize your returns. A balanced portfolio with hedge funds is one of the best ways to achieve that sort of balance. This book walks you step by step through the process of evaluating and choosing funds, incorporating them into your portfolio in the right amounts, and making sure they give you the returns you expect and deserve. You'll learn all the ins and outs of funds, including:

• What kind of fees you should expect to pay
• Picking a hedge fund advisor or broker
• Fulfilling paperwork and purchasing requirements
• Performing technical analysis and reading the data
• How to withdraw funds and handle the taxes
• Tracking fund performance yourself or through reporting services
• Hedge fund strategies for smaller portfolios
• Performing due diligence on funds that interest you
  This friendly, to-the-point resource includes information you can't do without, including sample portfolios that show you how to invest wisely. Hedge funds are an important part of every balanced portfolio, and this friendly guide tells how to use them to your best advantage. With important resources, vital information, and commonsense advice, Hedge Funds For Dummies is the perfect resource for every investor interested in hedge funds.

Contenu

Introduction 1

Part I: What Is a Hedge Fund, Anyway? 7

Chapter 1: What People Talk About When They Talk About Hedge Funds 9

Defining Hedge Funds (Or Should I Say Explaining Hedge Funds?) 10

Hedging: The heart of the hedge-fund matter 10

Identifying hedge funds: The long explanation 11

Pledging the secret society: Getting hedge fund information 14

Surveying the History of Hedge Funds 15

Alfred Winslow Jones and the first hedge fund 15

1966 to 1972: Moving from hedging to speculating 16

George Soros, Julian Robertson, and hedge-fund infamy 17

The rise and fall of Long-Term Capital Management 17

The Yale Endowment: Paying institutional attention to hedge funds 18

Generating Alpha 19

Introducing Basic Types of Hedge Funds 20

Absolute-return funds 20

Directional funds 21

Meeting the People in Your Hedge Fund Neighborhood 21

Managers: Hedging for you 21

Lawyers: Following the rules 22

Consultants: Studying funds and advising investors 22

Paying Fees in a Hedge Fund 23

Managing management fees 24

Shelling out your percentage of performance fees 24

Chapter 2: Examining How Hedge Funds Are Structured 27

Exploring the Uneven Relationships between Fund Partners 28

General partners: Controlling the fund 28

Limited partners: Investing in the fund 29

Only Accredited or Qualified Investors Need Apply 30

Which kind of investor are you? 30

Why do hedge fund investors need to be qualified or accredited? 32

Do funds really check up on you? 33

Do I have alternatives if I don’t qualify? 33

Following the Cash Flow within a Hedge Fund 34

Substituting commitments for cash 34

Waiting for withdrawals and distributions 35

Fee, Fi, Fo, Cha Ching! Paying the Fees Associated with Hedge Funds 37

Management fees 38

Sales charges 39

Performance fees 39

Redemption fees 41

Commissions 41

Dealing with the Hedge Fund Manager 42

Making time for meetings 42

Communicating with the written word 42

Seeking Alternatives to Hedge Funds 43

Making mutual funds work for you 45

Profiting from pooled accounts 45

Entering individually managed accounts 45

Chapter 3: Not Just a Sleeping Aid: Analyzing SEC Registration 47

Getting to Know the SEC’s Stance on Registration and Regulation 48

Examining the SEC’s past and current policies on registration 49

Meeting investor needs with regulation 53

Realizing that “registered” doesn’t mean “approved” 53

Addressing registration at the state level 54

Going Costal: Avoiding the Registration Debate through Offshore Funds 55

Investing in a Fund without Registration 56

Contracting the manager’s terms 56

Covering yourself with due diligence 57

Chapter 4: How to Buy into a Hedge Fund 59

Using Consultants and Brokers 60

Marketing to and for Hedge Fund Managers 61

Investor, Come on Down: Pricing Funds 62

Calculating net asset value 63

Valuing illiquid securities 66

Managing sid…