Book Recommendations for HF Analysts
Hi all,
I'm going to be starting as an analyst at a SM event-driven fund in a few months and am looking for some book recommendations to help me prepare for the role. I have a few months of garden leave to kill, so I'm open to any kind of recommendation - from more technical resources to "war story" style books like Barbarians at the Gate. For context, my background is 2 years in IB + 2 years PE, so this will be my first time in a public markets role. Any help would be appreciated as I'm looking to my best foot forward when starting at the new shop.
To kick off the discussion, some of my favorite finance books to date are:
- Predators Ball
- The Big Short
- Margin of Safety
- Moyer Distressed Debt Analysis
- Black Swan
- Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thanks in advance for the help
If you are doing event-driven, you might want to check out You Can Be a Stock Market Genius.
Systematic Trading - Robert Carver
Best practices for equity research analysts an absolute must read for equity L/S
Moby Dick
Recommend looking into the chapters that touch on the topics you want to learn most rather than reading the books entirely:
You can be a stock market genius
The aggressive conservative investor
Risk Arbitrage by Wyser-Pratte
The Most Important Thing - Howard Marks
The Art of Value Investing
More money than god by Sebastian mallaby
I have learned from this one
https://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Huge-Penis-Meditations/dp/1594743061/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=790f9794-63ca-4420-a6ec-09b4a116e57d
Ngl - no books will help. If they did, many would still have their jobs
This is just so wrong. Books are a great way to increase your knowledge base and understanding on a topic. There is a reason Blue Ridge/Tiger had that 100+ book reading list they tried to have every analyst read.
To think you can’t learn anything from great minds on investing (or on anything) is such a clear example of Hubris.
Do you know the list by chance?
Errrr Tiger is down 50% on the year. That reading list helped so much. I think books help contextualise things and it’s interesting to read about how investors think about things but I don’t think it helps you make money on the job. Ancillary more than anything.
I’m talking about tiger management not tiger global.
Yes that reading list helped spawn the greatest number of hedge fund spin offs (as well as HF wealth creation) in history by a mile due to the great analyst training and education that tiger provided.
Does it make a difference? Almost all the cubs that spun off are getting fcked this year. That reading list totally taught them to be great investors going long growth and tech I guess.
I don’t work at an MM but the ones doing fine are the guys obsessing over all their intra-sector trades in Citadel or wtv. And I can tell you all this investment philosophy fiction isn’t driving their returns.
I don’t think you realize how myopic this comment is. Yes pods are doing well this year (btw citadel equities is only up 13% ish not 29% like the aggregate fund last I heard).
But you are forgetting the last 20 years where the Cubs have cumulatively made investors literally hundreds of billions of dollars… I mean not to bring it back to tiger global since I dismissed the comment on them earlier but they have still compounded at >15% net for 20 years despite being down 50% this year…
Im not turning it into a MM vs SM debate, people from both sides clearly have had success and are intelligent, I’m just saying disregarding the people from the original tiger management as stupid and saying they have nothing to offer is quite ignorant. Most people have something intelligent to offer, and I would say the most successful hedge fund complex of all time probably has something helpful to offer people in the hedge fund industry… sure they aren’t right on everything, but I’m sure they have a meaningful amount of wisdom to contribute regardless of that.
I'm tailoring this to you working in Event
Rick Bookstaber's a Demon of Our Own Design is valuable for understanding the cost of complexity.
Damsel in Distressed - a humorous and honest account of a hf career. I disagree with some of the negativity on the space and on her definition of what funds should aim to accomplish, but she has a thoughtful perspective.
The Greatest Trade Ever
The Bond King
Thoroughly enjoyed Damsel in Distressed - highly recommend to all women in the HF space. One of the only unfiltered narratives from an accomplished female PM out there.
Unrelated to finance, but the Robert Caro books are fantastic books to read. I recommend reading the Power Broker and then his book "Working." LBJ books after that. They are phenomenal characters, covered by an author who turned over every stone he could.
"If you do everything, you'll win" - LBJ
Save
Corporis eum repellat fuga mollitia quo. Quo aut alias vel cumque. Voluptas nam aspernatur vel sunt non.
Veritatis beatae laborum tempore non expedita fugiat sint. A aspernatur at eos.
Ut ut autem est. Dolore consequuntur voluptas eaque excepturi sequi omnis quia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...