This book seems surprisingly anachronistic given that it was written in 2007. I had hoped the book might shed some light on the shadowy unregulated hedge fund markets. Instead what I got was a glimpse of the all too cozy relationship between hedge fund managers and the reporters who cover them. At times it seemed like Katherine Burton of Bloomburg News was tripping over herself trying to portray hedge fund managers as heroes of capitalism, and really great guys once you got to know them. If you were looking for hard journalism, you will be disappointed. This is a fluff job the managers might have written themselves. ( )

Hedge Hunters is a collection of interviews of hedge fund managers and their protégés. The author of Hedge Hunters Katherine Burton, sat down with these financial renegades and tried to ascertain what made them tick.

Surprisingly, what she found is that there is no one way to manage a hedge fund. All of the people she interviewed had different backgrounds. Some came from commodities, some from prestigious schools, some were engineers, and some were lawyers. The only thing that really made any of them similar is their drive to succeed, their winning track records, and their desire to seek a profit for their investors.

Each of the Hedge Hunters profiled in this book have different styles of investing, different niche areas, and different goals. What Burton has done in this book is reassure the financial student that no matter their background, if they work at it, seek new skills, and find a good mentor, they too can have successful, billion dollar hedge funds.

This book is a good resource for someone who only knows a little about hedge funds, or who wants to learn more about the personalities behind the success. Those people who enjoy reading Donald Trump’s success books are a likely audience as well. This book also tries to give strategies for succes based in personality, rather than method. Each chapter has the brevity of an article, (Burton is reporter for Bloomberg) and so makes for good plane or lunch hour reading.

Although at times Burton can be a bit repetitious in her phrasing, it will help the initiate to the world of hedge funds better understand the investing process. The reader may also tire of the sheer number of interviews; there are 18 chapters in all, and a lot of overlap in styles and methods. The reader would do well to focus on reading the chapter most relevant to what they would like to do, and then expanding outward into some of the other interviews. And this is not a how-to book of hedge fund investing, but rather a look into the minds of the people who make them successful. Mom and pop investor will not glean much from this, as the "masters" are mostly using institutional investors money and so have little to say to the small investor.

Burton did an excellent job in finding a cross section of managers representing all different styles and methods. There are really careful managers, the mavericks, and the manager of all the managers. She also worked hard to get the guys at the top of their game to name the up and coming newbies. Those people seeking to invest in the hedge fund world would be wise to watch the names of these “Picks” as Burton calls them. They are the 30 something managers who will be rocking the market in the very near future.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to invest in the hedge fund world, anyone desiring a career in this niche, or anyone who manages money for others. There are a lot of good insights, both humble and proud, into what it means to invest other people’s money. There is good discussion of pros and cons in the hedge fund world, and what needs to be done when you make that bad decision that costs a lot of money. It was interesting for me to read, as I work for a small fund manager, to see what the big boys do, and how they made it from million dollar companies to billion dollar companies. Hedge Hunters is an excellent resource and addition to the small library of fund management books. ( )

Hedge funds are something that not a lot of people who work outside the finance industries understand, but this book not only does a good job of keeping it understandable for those who aren't bankers, but they're wonderful profiles of the people who are most successful in hedge funds. And while you may not work in the financial industry, the profiles of the people who have fared best are always useful to see what works and what doesn't in business and in life in general. ( )

This book is a time capsule. It captures that moment, that exuberance, before the markets collapsed and before certain visionaries, like T. Boone Pickens, lost their shirts. The industry may never be the same, but I have a feeling the people will be.

I am pretty interested in financial stuff, so when I got the opportunity to review Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning by Katherine Burton, I jumped at the chance. I am glad I did, because the book is entirely fascinating! The book is basically a collection of mini biographies of the best hedge fund managers around. They give their keys to success, how they've avoided disaster (for the most part), and their favorite managers. But, maybe we should start at the beginning.

A hedge fund, according to Wikipedia, is a private investment fund that charges a performance fee and management fee. In order to invest with a hedge fund you must qualify. In order to qualify you must have A LOT of money. Hedge funds manage billions of dollars, so they don't mess around with small time investors. As the book shows, there are a lot of different styles of hedge funds based on the level of risk/reward you (assuming you have millions and millions already!) are looking for.

Hedge Hunters is really interesting because it gets inside the office and gets personal with the managers. Why are these money managers so successful? As I said before, there are a wide variety of styles that these managers employ. Some are very conservative and don't promise huge returns. Some are far more willing to take risks in order to obtain massive returns. One consistentcy between all of the managers is that they aim to make money no matter what direction the market is going. Up or down...if they aren't profiting then they aren't happy.

Another consistency between all of these managers is how much time they take researching the companies and management. There are a lot of money managers out there on Wall Street and around the country/world...but it seems to me that the best ones are the ones who take their time and make the extra effort to really analyze a company. That is where they find the under and over valued companies to bet on. And that is where they make their money.

Burton does a fantastic job of keeping the book interesting and not just listing the record of the managers. Not all of their advice is meaningful to the normal investors of the world, but the basic premise of research and patience rings out throughout the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in investing and personal finance. You will learn something if you read this book!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

(this and other reviews can be found at www.lettersonpages.com) ( )