Anyone read this book and recommend it? “Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager” is an entertaining book that, if judged by its title might lead the average person to think that they are about to embark on a whirlwind adventure of high stakes trading, New York nightlife, Hamptons mansions, drugs and supermodels. Instead, it reaffirms what those in the industry know (and what the NY Post is loathe for the masses to figure out), most hedge fund employees are very hard working individuals, who’s evening hours are more likely spent obsessing over the previous day’s activities, tweaking computer models, or catching up on much needed sleep (to allow them to get back in the office at the crack of dawn). A career… So unfolds most of the days in the life of Keith McCullough, who, along with Rich Blake authored the book that follows McCullough’s journey from his youth in the hockey leagues of Canada to college at Yale, then into the financial markets and finally a place in the hedge fund industry. McCullough’s story is an enjoyable read for anyone who has made (or is still making) their way through the world of hedge funds. Conversational in tone, and just as fast paced as the day-to-day pace that most hedge funders experience, McCullough’s entry into hedge funds coincided with a time of enormous asset growth and gives readers both an up close and personal, and a bird’s eye view of an industry just as it exploded in popularity. A memo… There is a turning point early on in the 1996 movie “Jerry Maguire” where Maguire experiences something of a catharsis regarding his profession as a sports agent. In what may be a moment of exhaustion-driven clarity he captures his shift in ideals in a memo: “It’s 1 AM and this might be the bad pizza I had earlier talking, but I believe I have something to say. Or rather, I have something to say that I believe in. My father once said, “Get the bad news over with first. You be the one to say the tough stuff.” Well, here goes. There is a cruel wind blowing through our business. We all feel it, and if we don’t, perhaps we’ve forgotten how to feel. But here is the truth. We are less ourselves than we were when we started this organization.” (Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire) In many ways, “Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager” is McCullough’s memo to the hedge fund industry. Simultaneously an enormous fan of what hedge fund managers can achieve and disappointed in what many have become, McCullough has punctuated his memo to the industry by leaving behind the management of portfolios focused on short-term performance and fee generation and, and has launched his own shop, research firm Hedgeye. … A business Connecticut-based Hedgeye launched in July 2008 and has quickly grown to more than 35 employees. The firm offers research programs to both institutional investors (which was its rapid growing base) and as of December 2009 to individuals as well. Hedgeye’s VP Todd Enders, explained to Opalesque that the firm offers full transparency through to its research, to date boasting 85% accuracy on both long and short side recommendations. “We built a track record that includes advising clients to move to 96% cash before the 2008 crash and then advising our clients to get reinvested on March 10, 2009 before the market recovery. That history has gotten us a lot of attention,” says Enders. The transparency that the firm offers in its equity analysis (analysts specialize in retail, gaming, macro, restaurants, healthcare, technology, financials and McCullough in overall strategy) was inspired when McCullough launched his own blog after being fired from Carlyle-Blue Wave in 2007. In conjunction with the release of “Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager” the Hedgeye team has been publishing a public blog (Source) that allows a public glimpse of the Early Look strategy notes the firm’s clientele is privy to. McCullough makes clear in his memoir that the purity of the research is something he has always been driven by. The new firm is a bet on the fact that investors both large and small are hungry for such information and, in the wake of the financial crisis are moving to secure it for themselves and take charge of their own investment destinies. No online Source
I haven’t read it, but looks interesting. Here’s a nice link to another Carlyle-Blue Wave alum, Cara Goldenberg, and her invite to sit down with Warren B. http://seekingalpha.com/article/190323-high-conviction-this-stock-pick-won-cara-goldenberg-dinner-with-warren-buffett?source=hp_wc
I know Cara, let’s just say she’s a much better marketer than fund manager.
Haha, I believe that. Although I have some dealings with Cowen, so I liked her analysis there. For better or worse, there are two ways to gain AUM: being a great marketer or having great performance, preferably both.
my friend read it and he said the thesis is that he knows everything because he plays hockey.
“We built a track record that includes advising clients to move to 96% cash before the 2008 crash and then advising our clients to get reinvested on March 10, 2009 before the market recovery. That history has gotten us a lot of attention,” says Enders. 96% cash before the 2008 crash. When was the crash? Sep/Oct? So 6 months in cash for a long/short manager rather than net short equities. No wonder he left the fee generation business 1 & 20 for an active manager to sit in cash. I suspect the fee generation business rather left him…
SMIRK Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I know Cara, let’s just say she’s a much better > marketer than fund manager. Meeow! Why can’t you just be happy for someone who has recently achieved success rather than making snide remarks like this out of jeasousy?