cover image Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Legends on the Art of the Trade and the Best New Managers

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

Katherine Burton, . . Bloomberg, $27.95 (206pp) ISBN 978-1-57660-245-4

Like other books profiling hedge fund managers, this one promises “unprecedented candor” and a view “behind tightly closed doors,” but some of the 23 managers profiled gave similar interviews in books such as Market Wizards , The New Investment Superstars and Inside the House of Money , and some have written books of their own. Bloomberg News reporter Burton does break new ground by profiling 13 up-and-coming managers selected by 10 acknowledged “leaders and legends.” Compared with other authors, she is more interested in the personal and business qualities needed to build a successful asset management business than in pure trading ability. She concentrates on stock pickers rather than others, such as managers who trade in nonequity markets. But the interviews tend to be soft: we learn about the managers' “boyish good looks,” telephone ring tones, rapper friends and art collections, among other personal details. When conversations turn to trading, the managers usually supply anecdotes of successful trades, often with tension as the market initially moves against them. This is a pleasant and well-written book for readers interested in the people and business of hedge funds, rather than their investment techniques. (Nov.)