The book on hedge fund basics, completely updated to reflect today's post-crisis industry

The hedge fund industry has been reeling in the wake of recent Ponzi schemes and insider trading scandals as well as the loss of billions of dollars in assets under management due to fund closures. Getting Started in Hedge Funds, Third Edition focuses on the current state of the industry; how hedge funds did or did not survive the subprime and subsequent credit crisis; and, what the future holds for investors. Getting Started in Hedge Funds, Third Edition also provides readers with a brief overview of the industry's history, and describes the inner-workings of these complex investment vehicles, including how to start a hedge fund, and what new regulations means for managers and investors.
. Profiles 10 highly successful hedge fund managers
. Addresses the Madoff scandal, as well as other lesser known Ponzi schemes, and analyzes the ripple effect felt throughout the industry as a result of these and other scandals
Despite the performance of some of these funds in the last few years, hedge funds are here to stay. In this Third Edition, Getting Started in Hedge Funds, Strachman provides an updated "how-to" guide for investors interested in hedge funds in this era of "new normal."

DANIEL A. STRACHMAN is the director of HEDGEAnswers.com, an online community for understanding hedge funds and investment strategies. A hedge fund industry veteran, he has contributed articles on investment management and strategies to publications such as the New York Post and the Financial Times, and blogs regularly at HEDGEAnswers.com. He is the author of both the first and second editions of Getting Started in Hedge Funds, as well as The Long and Short of Hedge Funds and The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management, all published by Wiley. For more information, visit danielstrachman.com

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction Why Hedge Funds Now and Forever? xi

Chapter 1 Hedge Fund Basics 1

The Near Collapse of Long-Term Capital Management 4

The Credit Crisis and Hedge Funds 13

A Brief History of Hedge Funds 17

The Current State of the Hedge Fund Industry 21

Alfred Winslow Jones-The Original Hedge Fund Manager 24

Chapter 2 How Hedge Funds Operate 33

Starting a Hedge Fund 36

Hedge Fund Regulations and Structures 53

How Hedge Funds Use Leverage 62

Patriarchs of the Hedge Fund World 62

Hedge Funds Take All the Heat 66

George Soros-The World's Greatest Investor 68

Chapter 3 The Managers 71

Guy Wyser-Pratte-Wyser-Pratte 74

Bill Michaelcheck-Mariner Investment Group 80

Nancy Havens-Havens Advisors LLC 85

Steve Cohen-SAC Capital 89

Chapter 4 Hedge Fund Investing 95

The Role of an Investment Adviser 98

An Institutional Investor 99

Third-Party Marketers 103

An Individual Investor 105

A Consulting Firm 108

A Manager of Managers 111

Conclusion 117

Appendix A Hedge Fund Strategies 121

Appendix B Example of Material Included in an Onshore Document 125

Overview 125

Important General Considerations 128

Summary of Offering and Partnership Terms 130

Management 146

Appendix C Example of Material Included in a Cayman-Based Fund for Tax-Exempt Investors 149

Part 1: Establishing an Offshore Fund Domiciled in the Cayman Islands 149

Part 2: Summary of Key Disclosures for Cayman Islands Offering Document 154

Glossary 161

Notes 171

About the Author 175

Index 177