Handbook of Alternative Assets 2nd Edition

A pleasant surprise - this book is very readable, containing both wisdom and practical information. Has both big picture macro level thinking and specifics about asset classes.

Excellent and thorough, for the budding professional and even the professional whom wants to branch out.SF-MBA, Masters of Applied finance double major, DFP/CFP.

Nice overview of alternative asset classes. One reference of many we use for research, cross-reference, marketing and new associate education.

A decent overview of hedge fund strategies. But there are not a lot of insights here. Why are so m e strategies m ore successful than others? What market conditions favor some strategies over others? While this topic is touched on it is super brief and only for a few of the strategies.

.I used this book for my preparations towards CAIA Level 1 exam. And I am impressed. Mr. Anson is an authority and this is truely a great book for Alternative Investment aspirants.If you want to have a very solid grasp of any of the following alternative investment approaches then this is the book you should turn to -Hedge fundsCommodity and managed futuresPrivate equity (5 catagories)....Venture Capital....LBOs....Mezzannine Financing....Distressed Debt....CrossOver/Interval/PIPE and PEPE fundsCredit derivativesCorporate GovernanceMr. Anson helps you build strong fundamentals. Actually he clearly explains what constitutes Alternative Assets(Aha !!!) as against fundamental and/or capital assets and what is meant by alternative investment strategies.This is followed by a rigorous analysis of the topics listed above in that order.I particularly enjoyed his coverage of Hedge Funds. He explains each of the 10 Hedge Fund strategies in a systematic fashion. From a variety of angles including Market(S&P500), Risk, Regulatory, Due Diligence/Operational/Administrative perspective.The coverage of Commodity Derivatives is also superb. Although confined to 4 chapters this coverage is sufficient to gain an intermediate level insight into the Commodities.The coverage for Private Equity is less comprehensive(but good) compared to it's actual scope in real world. I particularly expected a more rigorous coverage for LBOs.Although I did not touch credit derivatives and CorpGov I could tell you for sure that these topics must have been covered well.As I read 19 out of 22 chapters.To put it in a nutshell - This is a very good book for Hedge fund aspirants and prospective Alternative investment professionals.For more info about CAIA please visit [...]

This book must have been quite useful for my friend who used it to prepare for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) exam. He passed the two exams all on his first attempt.

This book is part of the CAIA exam reading and well worth it. It clearly explains what are some of the strategies put to work by the Hedge Fund managers. Very clearly articulates the similarities and differences between all the 10 possible Hedge Fund strategies (ex: equity long/short, market neutral, convertable arbitrage)This is the best book on Hedge Funds for someone looking for an overview of the industry.

I purchased the Book of Alternative Assets in order to study for the CAIA Level 1 exam. The book is a great reference and starter to all kinds of alternative assets. It gives the reader a good overall view of the different tools and strategies of alternative investing. It's a fairly qualitative approach and includes diagrams to aid in the delivery of concepts.The book covers hedge funds, commodities and managed futures, private equity, credit derivatives, and corporate governance.The hedge fund approach mainly covers the regulatory, risk, and investor perspectives. For example, if you were a foundation or endowment, how would you assess a hedge fund or fund of funds?The commodities and managed futures, private equity, and credit derivative sections begin with fairly elementary concepts and build from there to allow the reader to feel comfortable enough to talk about them with industry professionals and understand where the market is going with each field.There are the occasional misspelled words, so it could be edited a little bit better, but it's not too much of a distraction.Even though it's about 700 pages, it reads quickly. Overall, it's a solid book and an easy read for the CAIA curriculum.