WILEY The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World′s Top Hedge Funds

This book describes the very diverse investment strategies and styles of star hedge fund managers.While touching upon defining moments in the life of these extremely successful individuals, it describes their thought process when selecting investments.Great, inspiring read.

Too often, analysts, traders, and financial journalists find themselves referring to 'the hedge funds' when seeking to explain some undesirable or unforeseen market event. Often, 'the hedge funds' are characterized as some impersonal, malicious force akin to the 'dark side' in Star Wars, bent on the destruction of the market in their never ending quest for ill-gotten profits. In 'Alpha Masters', Maneet Ahuja humanizes the hedge fund industry by introducing readers to the men (and women) behind the profits. Readers get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at nine of the world's top funds and, more importantly, discover what drives the minds of the extraordinary individuals behind those funds. In what will no doubt come as a surprise to some, many of the funds discussed in the book do not employ anything that could be described as a malicious strategy. From Ray Dalio's zen-like 'principles' to Marc Lasry and Sonia Gardner's insistence on never using leverage to enhance returns, many of the figures described in the book employ strategies that are indeed the opposite of 'harmful' regarding the efficient functioning of the marketplace. Moreover, the book serves as a poignant reminder that confidence in one's convictions--even in the face of rampant skepticism--is a critical component of financial success as the crowd is wrong more often than they are right. Additionally, 'Alpha Masters' makes it a point to emphasize that most of the information used by the hedge funds discussed in the book is publicly available--the managers highlighted throughout simply see things in that information that others do not. This serves to undermine a popular criticism of the hedge fund industry: that its managers thrive by trading on inside information. Overall, 'Alpha Masters' is a compelling volume and serves as a wonderful introduction to some of the best investment minds in the industry via the author's unparalleled access to a group of people who are notoriously reclusive. As a financial journalist and as a trader of the markets for nearly a decade, I take issue with only assertion made in the book. In the preface, Ms. Ahuja asserts that "the lesson to be learned is that you don't have to be them [Ray Dalio, Boaz Weinstein, or any of the other extraordinary minds profiled in the book] for it [the game of investing] to work...you just have to make a proven strategy yours...do your own research...[and] you can land on your feet." While inspiring, I fear the reality is that their is indeed something unique about many of the personalities behind the world's most successful hedge funds; something that simply cannot be duplicated or even approximated by even the most savvy of investors. No matter our approach to research or our conviction and will to succeed, we will not likely be John Paulson or James Chanos, and indeed we may not land on our feet. Nonetheless, it never hurts to be optimistic. This is a wonderful book and a must read for anyone who follows the capital markets.-Colin LokeyAuthor, the BHerd BlogSeeking Alpha ContributorPresident, Classmate Inc.

worthy

The book doesn't offer any precious insight in the work of these hedge funds, but only some history and curiosity.

Maneet is a young CNBC reporter who decided to use her ability to gain access to several superstars of the Hedge Fund world. All highly successful, they have traveled very different roads to reach their current vantage point. Among their many shared characteristics is a strong ability to see their own strengths and weaknesses and develop superb intuition - here, personality and psychological traits matterIn the world uncovered by "Alpha Masters", finance is not a pile of filings or Excel models of dubious value. It's serendipitous and situational. It's honing one's intuition to uncover opportunity and knowing when one's time has come to act. Considering we have either emerged from the cauldron of financial calalmity(or still live in it, depending who we ask) this is clearly an opportune time to be talking with the financial 'A' Team. One way or another, all of us play 'tag' with these investors.Along the way we learn about many of the life events which have forged and honed the natural abilities of these investors. Their methods are not accidental and allow us to get our arms around the formation & origins of their many ideas. After all, its knowing the investment process that allows us spectators to discern luck from skill and the 'horse' from the 'jockey'This book can be useful for a small subset of beginners that are highly motivated to develop their investing and valuation talent. Primarily it will be helpful to those who have had the experience of running money and want to further develop the ability to identify outlying situations and better understand motivations of the participants sitting on all sides of the table.Reading the book, I am reminded of an interview panel with Buffett and Gates. Asked about the difference between them, Buffett explains that much of the public believe they could perform his job but not Bill Gates'. In "Alpha Masters", we learn the true depth of personality, tenacity and sleuthing required for success -- the skills may not be highly technical but they are highly evolved