The Invisible Hands: Hedge Funds Off the Record - Rethinking Real Money - Hardcover

Drobny, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 047060753X ISBN 13: 9780470607534

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2010

Synopsis

Timely investment advice from the investors who survived—and thrived—during the economic crisis

In light of the colossal losses and ongoing difficulties caused by the financial crisis, it's obvious that the time has come to rethink money management in the broadest of terms. Drastic changes are clearly in order, but no new model has yet been implemented. Steven Drobny explores a new model from a simple starting point—by consulting the traders and managers who actually made money during this profoundly difficult period. In The Invisible Hands, top global macro managers reveal their own (clearly successful) approaches to markets and risk, suggesting important tenets for money management in a future, precarious world.

Providing money managers and investors with the proven expertise of the best and most successful players in money management and detailing many specific elements of their risk management processes, The Invisible Hands:

• Outlines investment strategies for the rocky road ahead
• Provides guidance on how real money managers can implement certain elements of macro hedge fund strategies, developing a new paradigm of portfolio construction anchored in superior risk management
• Reveals intimate aspects of the investment processes of some of today's top hedge fund managers

The book highlights the similarities among successful traders, showing that the investment process should be anchored in understanding the true risk-adjusted returns in your portfolio.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

The crash of 2008 crushed "real money" investors (endowments, pensions, foundations, and family offices). World markets—from real estate and equities to commodities and credit—collapsed. Some of the world's most venerable financial institutions disappeared, while many hedge fund, private equity, venture capital, and real asset managers suffered immense losses. Yet, the world has not ended, and now, all investors must adapt to the new reality.

Analyzing money managers who fared well in 2008—either by posting strong performance or by preserving capital—is a logical starting point. Global macro hedge funds are those money managers. Risk management is a key differentiator during crises, and global macro hedge fund managers anchor their investment processes in risk, rather than targeting outsized returns.

In The Invisible Hands, Steven Drobny—cofounder of Drobny Global Advisors and author of Inside the House of Money—again reaches out to his professional network of leading global macro hedge fund managers to better understand how their risk management, investment, and portfolio construction process enabled them to effectively navigate the crash of '08. With this book as your guide, you'll glean valuable insights from unparalleled access to these winners in order to adapt to the new financial reality we all now face.

The Invisible Hands begins by addressing the importance of "real money" management, examining its evolution and raising important questions about how portfolios are constructed. In Part Two, the experts or "Invisible Hands"—ten anonymous global macro hedge fund managers—discuss how they approach money management, revealing how they made money or avoided large losses during the crisis of 2008, and detailing how they would address some of the challenges faced by real money managers. Part Three introduces the invisible hand known as "The Pensioner," who provides an inside look at the real money world.

Along the way, The Invisible Hands also:

• Examines some of the fundamental questions currently being asked by all investors as they struggle to understand the new paradigm of the post-crisis world

• Questions some core tenets of asset allocation and portfolio construction as these concepts are applied by real money investors

• Reveals how some of the best in the hedge fund business are positioning themselves for the uncertain road ahead

• And much more

Page by page, The Invisible Hands provides investors and traders with the latest thinking from some of the best players in money management, highlighting the specific risk and return objectives of each, and discussing the evolution of certain styles and beliefs in money management. This book will allow you to discover how successful global macro hedge fund managers navigated the most significant financial crisis of our lifetime and learn how to incorporate certain elements of their approach into your own investment endeavors.

From the Back Cover

Question: What is the difference between a Peruvian peasant farmer and a Harvard or Yale endowment manager?

Answer: The peasant is the one who understands risk-sensitive investing and sound investment goals.
—Jared Diamond from the Foreword of The Invisible Hands; Professor of Geography and Environment Health Sciences, UCLA; Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

Praise For the Invisible Hands

"Drobny does it again!"
—Jim Rogers, author of A Gift to My Children

"While many are too busy trying to determine 'what just happened,' the insights of these Invisible Hands provide a valuable forward-looking road map for managing institutional portfolios. With trillions at stake for our society's pensions, endowments, and foundations, this book offers important lessons for any fiduciary charged with stewarding assets for future generations."
—Michael K. Barry, Chief Investment Officer, University System of Maryland Endowment

"Anyone looking for a better understanding of how to invest in turbulent waters will benefit from this guided tour of the experiences of smart and creative money managers over the last couple of years. Pick up a copy and enjoy!"
—Arminio Fraga, Founding Partner, Gávea Investimentos, and formerpresident of the Central Bank of Brazil

"Drobny's path-breaking work analyzes the deficiencies of real money investors and proposes antidotes gleaned from the techniques of top macro hedge fund managers."
—Dr. John Porter, Managing Director, Global Portfolio and Liquidity Management, Barclays Capital

"Once again Drobny taps the most influential minds in investing to unearth some decidedly uncommon wisdom and candid revelations. The Invisible Hands maps out the winners and losers, empowering readers to navigate the transformation of the money management industry currently in full swing."
—John Brynjolfsson, CIO of Armored Wolf, and former portfolio manager of the $80 billion PIMCO Real Return practice

"As a money manager, I found this book tremendously insightful, in that it challenges long-held assumptions about—and more recently adopted approaches to—the management of 'real money.' As a taxpayer, I found its contents terrifying."
—Rishi Narang, CIO, Telesis Capital, author of Inside the Black Box

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 047060753X
• ISBN 13: 9780470607534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 444