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Hedge Hunters
Book

Hedge Hunters

Hedge Fund Legends on the Art of the Trade and the Best New Managers

Katherine Burton
Bloomberg Press, 2007
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Overview
  • Background

Recommendation

What are the qualities of a successful hedge fund manager? To answer that question, Katherine Burton profiled industry leaders who have outperformed their peers over time. Her book provides readers with a sweeping introduction to the hedge fund industry’s top performers. You will discover how these investors got to the top, what strategies they employ, how they learn from their mistakes and what characteristics they find necessary to succeed in this very competitive environment. Burton profiles an impressive group: Mark Yusko, Michael Steinhardt, John Armitage, Marc Lasry, Craig Effron, Lee Ainslie, Bernay Box, Boone Pickens, Brian Bradshaw, David Meaney, Michael Ross, Alex Szewczyk, Josh Friedman, Mitch Julis, Jeffrey Schachter, Burton Weinstein, Dwight Anderson, Roberto Mignone, Bruce Ritter, Julian Robertson, Jim Chanos, Richard Perry and Daniel Loeb. While Burton provides a rare glimpse inside the world of these hedge fund managers, her very readable interviews are too brief for those searching for inside knowledge about hedge funds. Those seeking in-depth discussions of investment techniques and trading strategies may wish that she had dug a little more deeply. Nevertheless, getAbstract likes this quick, easy-to-read set of profiles from the world of hedge funds, and recommends it to anyone who wants a peek behind the curtain into this elite domain.

Summary

What Makes a Hedge Fund Manager Successful?

While successful hedge fund managers have unique personal styles and approaches to managing money, they do share some traits. Mark Yusko, who has worked with hundreds of hedge fund honchos for years, has developed a list of qualities that are essential for a great hedge fund manager: “independence, guts, humility and intellectual honesty, connections, ambition, smarts, respect for employees and integrity.”

Boone Pickens – “The Imperturbable Oilman”

Boone Pickens, 79, is the “grandfather of commodities trading.” He started Dallas-based BP Capital Management, which manages approximately $4.3 billion, including $1.6 billion of his personal wealth. Pickens once ran the largest independent U.S. oil company, Mesa Petroleum. He supervises BP Capital with a squad of 11 managers, including three people who have worked with him since the 1980s. The management committee forecasts the direction of oil and natural gas, and invests in the futures markets based on those forecasts. BP Capital may take long-term positions in energy stocks or sell them short, but Pickens “doesn’t hedge his positions.”

He began his career as a...

About the Author

Katherine Burton has covered hedge funds and investment management for Bloomberg News since 1993. She worked for the International Herald Tribune and U.S. News and World Report.

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