More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
Sebastian Mallaby · ★★★★☆ · 653 pages · 2010
I’ve been trying to understand the American financial system better so this book popped up as a history of hedge funds. For all the mysterious talk of hedge funds it seems they are not that mysterious at all. They are just a pool of money from different investors much like a company is made up of many owners. The people running the hedge fund take 2% management fee and 20% on the upside profit. Hedge fund managers invest based on their particular edge or expertise.
This books covers the major hedge funds over the last 75 years where they started who ran them, etc. the author does come off as a bit of a fan boy of the funds, but the writing of what hedge funds do versus banks and the government seem well researched.
In the ens though it seems people running hedge funds burn out hard and fast even if they have been successful for years. Most seem to fail when they get too big not being able to be nimble. Seems pretty high stress.