“I read this book cover to cover, and enjoyed every bit of it. The hedge fund industry is not known for its modesty, yet this book is not only full of fascinating information but is refreshing in this respect as well.”
Andrei Shleifer, Professor of Economics, Harvard University
“Without sensationalising, Lars tells it like it is – a no-holds-barred, warts-and-all account of what it’s like to try and set up and run a hedge fund.”
Neil Wilson, editor, Eurohedge
“A compelling and demystifying chronicle of hedge funds, and of hedge fund managers. Lars’ experience is by no means novel in the industry, but his perspective most certainly is.”
Drew Dickson, Managing Partner, Dickson Capital Management
"In a world where few understand their complexities, Money Mavericks provides a compelling and accurate insight into the secretive workings of a hedge fund."
Tets Ishikawa, author of "How I Caused the Credit Crunch
This book reminds me of "Hedgehogging", one of my favourite books... Relatively, "Money Mavericks" was more on the story-telling style with simple wording and minimal financial stuff. Take a look at some of the interesting points (or phrases) as listed below. You will surely enjoy it...
It is a story of naivety, rejection, hubris, bubbles quickly inflating, arrogance and occasional hatred. At the same time, it is one of success, ambition, friendship, courage and love.
When self-confidence becomes arrogance you deserved to be shot down.
Of all the things we needed six month before launching the fund, having a prime broker was the one we cared about the most.
Real managers don't sweat even when the kitchen gets hot.
The human side of constantly being evaluated on short-term performance numbers was a drain.
You are a number. Basically if you have bad performance numbers you are a bad person... If you have high assets under management and therefore rich, you might get a reprieve but only for so long...If you are small and perform poorly you think everyone from your mother-in-law to the postman is giving you a pitying look saying, "This is clearly a guy out of his depth", and you begin to be defensive and see humiliating ridicule in innocent comments from those around you. If you are at a dinner party and a friend at Goldman tells you he has been promoted, you take this to mean "At least I know what I am doing." One month I was down 4% in an up market and I thought everyone was looking at me thinking "How can anyone be so stupid?" It is not a happy place to be. '
Running a hedge fund was obviously a 24/7 proposition, but I was also guilty of being unable to disconnect.
Once potential investors have satisfied themselves that you are not a crook, the single question they most often ask is 'What is your edge?'
If a medium-sized firm... can generate $ 1.5 million in trade commissions every year, it becomes obvious why the banks and brokerage houses take you to the Super Bowl.
... the short term perspective of his investors left him no room to engage in a random market where there was no saying what stocks would do in the short run. "It's all a fucking lottery."
The more money you had invested, the more fees and attention you got.
On top of the nice phrases as mentioned, I myself particularly loves chapter 6 ~~~ "The Mickey Mouse Fund". Well, most traders went through such a period. So, it is no surprise at all for a beginner fund like Holte Capital. Credit must be given to the author for his willingness to reveal it. The best part is... he revealed it in a humour way too, LOL. This is then follow by the breaking through and how Holte Capital goes from a million funds into a billion funds (Mickey Mouse tag was finally removed! LOL). Since "the more money you had invested, the more fees and attention you got" ~~~ the author Lar Kroijer was eventually a popular figure in the world of hedge fund and as a result...these were among the discoveries made about him:
1. Outstanding parking tickets from place he used to be...
2. Her wife did not paid her phone bill when she left Denmark...
3. Lar Kroijer did not renewed his Massachusetts driving licence and had not taken a new one in another US state.
4. Lar Kroijer almost moved to Mongolia...
5. Lar Kroijer lied about graduating from Harvard with honours
6. Lar Kroijer changed his name !!! ~~~ Alamak !!! LOL.
.... and plenty more.... Series of hilarious jokes... but sounds familiar? Hmm...
Lastly, we had the real confessions when his partner, Brian decided to call it a day! This is the moment when all the pros and cons (to quit or to carry on) came out. Well, I love one of the reason to quit ~~~ "You are not changing the world" !!! Exactly... Capitalism might have creates tonnes of wealth. But, it is not changing the world like what Steve Jobs did !!!
Overall, this is a nice book although I must admit that I prefer "Hedgehogging". To me, "Hedgehogging" gave more details and "Hedgehogging" was more 'ruthless' in presenting the whole picture. However, I salute and respect the author's courage to confess completely the whole ups and downs of a hedge fund. I personally appreciate this kind of books. It passes through success stories as well as the road down events... In view of that, I rated it 7/10. Why not 10/10? Well... simply because I love "Hedgehogging" more, LOL...
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