Hedge Fund Risk Fundamentals: Solving the Risk Management and Transparency Challenge

By Richard Horwitz

Book Overview

In the constantly evolving hedge fund marketplace, nothing is more central--but in many ways, more amorphous and elusive--than risk. Yet there remains no standard for analyzing and measuring risk within this highly secretive, largely unregulated field, leaving the thousands of hedge funds--and the tens of thousands of hedge fund investors--in dangerously dim light. The industry has not solved the "transparency" challenge--communicating risk to investors without disclosing proprietary information.

Hedge Fund Risk Fundamentals is the first book to bring these issues to the forefront. With clarity, concision, and minimal math, Richard Horwitz lays out the key components and the cutting-edge processes in the field of hedge fund risk management today. Against that backdrop, he presents a groundbreaking utility destined to set the standard for transparency and risk management within the hedge fund universe.

You'll learn why, when it comes to risk management, 1 + 1 = 1.41. For all of those perplexed by the difficulties of assessing risk in hedge fund investing, Horwitz's concepts make for an invaluable road map and a demystifying resource that hedge funds and investors at all levels will find indispensable.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576602575
• ISBN13: 9781576602577
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended!

Hedge funds are complex, risky investment vehicles. Other funds, such as most equity mutual funds, have straightforward investment strategies. By contrast, equity-oriented hedge funds may engage in various trading practices and investment strategies. They may be short funds, long-short funds or market neutral funds. And equity-oriented hedge funds are only a small sliver of the hedge fund universe. Thus, assessing the risk of hedge funds is a challenge. In language intelligible to most lay readers, author Richard Horwitz lays out the issues to consider when evaluating hedge fund risks. He has accomplished a great deal merely by writing this in readable prose, instead of in equations. He also explains his company's hedge fund risk measurement system. We believe every hedge fund manager and anyone who even thinks of investing in a hedge fund should read this book.

A new look at hedge funds and risk

With the increasing universe of alternative investments, comes a more difficult and complicated task of selection for many sophisticated investors. From quantitative analysis to qualitative assessment, this book covers a full spectrum of topics. It offers an interesting perspective and methodology in breaking down risks associated with investing in these highly complex and opaque strategies. Where transparency has always been an issue, it's like a breath of fresh air to finally find a method that satisfies both the disclosure-hungry investor, and the secretive hedge fund. The platform offers a unique way of bucketing and aggregating risks into logical styles and factors, which ultimately strips away the need for full position-level transparency. The comprehensive and flexible system allows investors to take advantage of useful tools and measurements that will aid them in better assessing risks and managing their portfolios. Finally, a book written for the risk gurus of the hedge fund world.