Hedge Funds: Myths and Limits

Francois-Serge Lhabitant

Editions: John Wiley & Sons

Pages: 288 pages

Date: May 2002

Lhabitant discusses—from an investor’s perspective—the potential uses, risks, and returns in hedge funds, while offering both the qualitative and quantitative tools investors need to access these types of funds. Topics not normally covered in discussions of hedge funds are included, such as how to include hedge funds in traditional portfolios, database differences, and non-transparency. A practical guide to a growing, yet little understood, segment of the financial industry. Francois-Serge Lhabitant, PhD (Geneva, Switzerland), is Head of Quantitative Risk Management at Union Bancaire Privée in Geneva, Switzerland. A former computer engineer, he previously served as Director of UBS Private Banking Division. This book shows readers the fundamental concepts needed to understand strategies used by the funds and their potential positive and negative contributions to investment portfolios.

Handbook of Hedge Funds

by François-Serge Lhabitant

published by John Wiley & Sons, December 2006

A comprehensive guide to the burgeoning hedge fund industry

Intended as a comprehensive reference for investors and fund and portfolio managers, Handbook of Hedge Funds combines new material with updated information from Francois-Serge L’habitant’s two other successful hedge fund books. This book features up-to-date regulatory and historical information, new case studies and trade examples, detailed analyses of investment strategies, discussions of hedge fund indices and databases, and tips on portfolio construction.

Absolute Returns

The Risk and Opportunities of Hedge Fund Investing 

by Alexander M. Ineichen 

published by John Wiley & Sons, 1st edition, 2002

The hedge fund business is about achieving excellent risk-adjusted returns, not about beating the market. In other words, the hedge fund business is about absolute returns.

But not all hedge funds are created equal. A poorly chosen hedge fund or portfolio of hedge funds can produce disappointing results.

In Absolute Returns: The Risk and Opportunities of Hedge Fund Investing, Alexander Ineichen–Head of Equity Derivatives Research for UBS Warburg in London and author of the widely read research publication In Search of Alpha: Investing in Hedge Funds–demystifies what hedge funds are, how they invest to generate superior risk-adjusted returns, and what the concurrent risks of investing in them are.

Commodity Trading Advisors: Risk, Performance Analysis, and Selection

Edited by Greg N. Gregoriou, Vassilios Karavas, Fabrice Rouah & François-Serge Lhabitant

Editions: John Wiley & Sons

Pages: 424 pages

Date: October 2004

The explosive growth in the funds flowing into modern alternative investments has heightened the need for research and professional education on hedge funds and commodity trading advisors (CTAs). CTAs use proprietary trading programs that buy and sell commodities and financial futures around the globe to seize profit opportunities in a variety of markets. They are an increasingly popular and potentially profitable investment alternative for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

With the help of over 30 leading industry voices, they have delivered an up-to-date, authoritative and accessible book, analysing CTAs from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective.

Hedge Funds: Quantitative Insights

Authors: François-Serge Lhabitant

Editions: Wiley

Pages: 354 pages

Date: May 2004

This primer on the analysis of hedge funds offers investors a more quantitative understanding of this topic, providing a complete guide to portfolio techniques, asset allocation, performance measurement and product selection in the alternative investment world.

Hedge funds are the fastest growing sector of the financial industry, and yet the least understood, by market professionals.

This book examines and popularises the results of several quantitative studies that have so far been confirmed within academic circles.

It provides a step-by-step introduction on how quantitative tools can be applied to hedge fund investing.

Divided into three parts, the book begins with coverage of the measurement of risk-adjusted returns for hedge funds. The focus is not on determining whether hedge funds outperform or under-perform traditional markets, but rather on understanding the real meaning of performance statistics used by hedge fund managers and quantitative analysts.

The second part of the book examines the risk exposures of hedge funds, and subsequently, their return drivers.

The final part of the book enters the field of portfolio construction and asset allocation.