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Hedge funds are a class of investment that is a mystery to many people. Once the domain of the ultra-rich willing to trade greater risks for higher returns, these funds are increasingly moving into the mainstream.
Confusion arises about these vehicles for many reasons. For one, hedge funds come in many different categories utilizing a diverse assortment of investments. And regulation of these investments is not consistent, so while a fair amount of information might be available for a certain class of hedge fund, others might not publish any information at all. Finally, in view of the fact that investors tend to rely on statistical metrics such as indices to benchmark and forecast future performance, there is still no common agreed-upon framework among professionals for evaluating these investments across the board.
In response to a steady request for information on this sector, the Baker Library Guide to Hedge Funds has been completely revised. This guide covers the basics of hedges funds and who manages them. It also includes commentary on the current regulatory environment for this industry. With the growing issue of terrorism and concerns about avenues for concealed funds, this category is understandably under a heightened level of scrutiny. Benchmarking information is included on the indices for evaluating the performance of these funds, as well as a general overview of the performance of this sector over the past few years. Additional commentary is provided on the rising involvement of institutional investors compared to ten years ago.
The Guide includes an annotated list of resources available in Baker Library and on the Web, as well as citations of recent articles on hedge funds, providing various perspectives on where this type of investment is heading. An indicator of its increased prominence among the institutional investment community is that the July 2002 issue of Institutional Investor magazine ran a first annual ranking of the "Top 100 Hedge Funds."