Dear Alpha Mail Subscriber:
You know that feeling you get on a roller coaster as you accelerate down the first hill? When your stomach feels like it's in your throat and the people around you start to scream and throw their arms in the air? Well, many would agree that was the feeling we all had last fall.
But the energy created as a roller coaster hurtles down the track needs to go somewhere. In the back of your mind, you know that the faster you go down, the faster you'll come back up after the next turn.
That turn was called "Spring 2009" and the energy created on the downhill run has apparently propelled the industry almost all the way back up the next hill. The HFRI, for example, is now within spitting distance of its all-time high. And according to data from HFN, August saw net new inflows of $20 billion.
Like the "Mega Beast," "Sky Smasher" and "Vomit Comet," the hedge fund industry may someday go down another hill. But its participants might take solace in the fact that once again, the biggest climbs have occurred after the biggest drops.
Last month, we covered a variety of alternative investments from shipping and infrastructure, to private equity, catastrophe bonds and hedge fund replication. Also among the list of most popular posts: more esoteric topics such as the "redemption option" and the "modified Sharpe ratio."
So here's some good reading as you careen down the track...