An empirical study of hedge funds

Abstract

Hedge Funds are one of the fastest growing, yet least understood, category of alternate investment vehicles. They are pooled investment vehicles that use leverage, short-selling, dynamic hedging and derivatives to implement investment strategies significantly different from the non-leveraged, long-only approach traditionally followed by investors. This Thesis explores and validates characteristics, attributes and behavior of the generic category of Hedge Funds by researching academic and empirical studies available in the public domain. It traces the dramatic growth of the Hedge Fund industry in recent times as well as the regulatory environment governing the industry. The findings of this study assess a variety of Hedging styles and strategies that have proliferated in recent years by building on practitioner and academic research. We further examine the risk return profile of Hedge Funds, effective diversification and portfolio allocation decisions. The results of our study offer a thorough explanation of issues essential to Hedge Fund investment and their usefulness as an alternative asset class in both institutional and private portfolios.