What Hedge Funds Really Do: An Introduction to Portfolio Management

When I managed a hedge fund in the late 1990s, computer-based trading was a mysterious technique only available to the largest hedge funds and institutional trading desks. We’ve come a long way since then. With this book, Drs. Romero and Balch lift the veil from many of these once-opaque concepts in high-tech finance. We can all benefit from learning how the cooperation between wetware and software creates fitter models. This book does a fantastic job describing how the latest advances in financial modeling and data science help today’s portfolio managers solve these greater riddles. -Michael Himmel, Managing Partner, Essex Asset Management

I applaud Phil Romero’s willingness to write about the hedge fund world, an industry that is very private, often flamboyant, and easily misunderstood. As with every sector of the investment landscape, the hedge fund industry varies dramatically from quantitative “black box” technology, to fundamental research and old-fashioned stock picking. This book helps investors distinguish between these diverse opposites and understand their place in the new evolving world of finance. -Mick Elfers, Founder and Chief Investment Strategist, Irvington Capital

Dr. Philip J. Romero was an economist, policy analyst, and applied mathematician, and former California chief economist. He was Dean and also Professor of Business Administration at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business prior to his passing.