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The Savvy Investor's Guide to Building Wealth Through Alternative Investments
H. Kent Baker, Greg Filbeck, Andrew C. Spieler
- 172 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Savvy Investor's Guide to Building Wealth Through Alternative Investments
H. Kent Baker, Greg Filbeck, Andrew C. Spieler
About This Book
Do you want to see your wealth grow?
If so, then this easy-to-read guide that focuses on alternative investments - hedge funds, private equity, real estate, commodities, and infrastructure - is just for you.
The fourth book in The H. Kent Baker Investments Series attempts to remove some of the mystery surrounding these investments so that you can determine whether any of these are right for you. If you're willing to gain the necessary knowledge, you may be able to build long-term wealth by taking advantage of the benefits that each investment has to offer.
The Savvy Investor's Guide to Building Wealth Through Alternative Investments is written for investors familiar with traditional investments but with limited knowledge of alternative assets and strategies.
Frequently asked questions
Information
1
HEDGE FUNDS: INVESTING FOR SHORTER-TERM OPPORTUNITIES
1.1. WHAT IS A HEDGE FUND, AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
1.2. HOW DOES A HEDGE FUND DIFFER FROM A MUTUAL FUND?
- Investment strategies. Mutual funds are readily available to the public for investment and include traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and cash. Some mutual fund strategies involve taking a short position or using leverage. In contrast, hedge funds are harder to classify. They may carry considerably more risk, employ leverage, engage in hedging strategies, or pursue arbitrage opportunities. Arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets. Hedge funds also have fewer investing constraints than mutual funds and hence have greater flexibility.
- Regulation. In the United States, the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 regulate mutual funds. However, the Investment Company Act provides the most specific guidance related to structure, operations, and pricing. Before the financial crisis of 2007â2008, hedge funds avoided most of the regulatory requirements that mutual funds had to follow. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) required larger hedge funds to register with the SEC.
- Clientele. Few restrictions exist on mutual fund investors other than perhaps a minimum investment level. As previously noted, only accredited investors can invest in hedge funds. Loosening of the restrictions occurred in 2016 to include some financial professionals and those who can successfully document that their educational and training background permits them to understand hedge fund strategiesâ more complex nature.
- Fee structure. Mutual fund investors are subject to management fees, possible sales charges, and other fees. Hedge fund investors pay both a management fee based on AUM and an incentive (performance) fee based on a manager exceeding a pre-determined benchmark return.
- Liquidity. Compared to mutual funds, hedge funds are less liquid because you canât withdraw from your investment any time you want. Some hedge funds establish gates that allow limited time windows to exchange shares or impose lock-up periods that restrict investors from redeeming their funds for up to two years.
- Transparency. Mutual funds provide greater transparency to investors about their holdings and strategies. Hedge funds tend to disclose less information to their investors to guard their superior strategies. Their secrecy stems from a fear that other managers may replicate successful strategies, reducing return potential.
- Self-investment. In a hedge fund, the expectation is that the manager invests in the fund. In contrast, the manager of a mutual fund doesnât face the same expectation.
1.3. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES FOR OWNING A HEDGE FUND?
- Direct approach. The direct approach involves investing in individual hedge funds. You can select this method if youâre an accredited investor or meet revised requirements regarding career or education and experience. The direct approach allows you to conduct your due diligence into fund selection. Due diligence involves performing an in-depth analysis of financial, legal, and operational information on a fund before investing capital. Examples of the biggest hedge funds in the United States include Bridgewater Associates, Renaissance Technologies, and AQR Capital Management.
- Fund of hedge funds approach. A fund of hedge funds (FOF) is a hedge fund that invests in a portfolio of other hedge funds. The FOF manager makes decisions about strategy and fund selection, portfolio construction and composition, and risk management and monitoring. This approach ensures better diversification, because it includes multiple funds. If you select this method, you donât have direct control of selected funds and have two layers of fees. Each fund in a FOF is eligible for AUM and incentive fees, as is the FOF manager. An example of a FOF is the Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM) Fund.
- Indexed approach. You can also select index funds that try to mimic the underlying strategy of a given hedge fund. An example of this strategy is a replication product. Managers try to identify the key measures that drive hedge fund performance and replicate the exposures through publicly traded securities. ProShares Hedge Replication is an example of a replication product.
1.4. WHY ARE HEDGE FUNDS VITAL TO THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL?
- Use of derivatives. Since many hedge fund strategies use derivatives, implicit leverage causes hedge funds to have a disproportionally larger influence in the financial markets. The leverage occurs because derivative contracts only require a relatively small investment called the margin to control a considerably larger contract value. For instance, if the margin requirement for a derivatives contract is 5%, then the contract has 1/0.05 = 20 times leveraging component.
- Indirect investment. Although restrictions limit individual investorsâ ability to invest in hedge funds directly, these investors may indirectly participate in hedge funds through institutional investors such as pension funds, endowment funds, insurance companies, central banks, and FOFs. In fact, institutional investors are the primary investors in hedge funds. Therefore, ...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Introduction
- 1 Hedge Funds: Investing for Shorter-Term Opportunities
- 2 Private Equity: Investing for Longer-Term Opportunities
- 3 Investing in Real Estate: Itâs Not Just Your Home
- 4 Investing in Commodities: Getting an Inflation Hedge
- 5 Investing in Infrastructure: A Road to Economic Growth
- Index