One of the tasks in the book "2001 Things To Do Before You Die" is to "Be able to explain a hedge fund, risk arbitrage, and a mutual fund".
I find this interesting and something I can do since I am a lawyer and I am interested in securities regulation stuff. In fact, I authored a law school textbook entitled "Securities Regulation Code: With Annotation." This was published in September 2002, and a Second Edition is to come out hopefully by June of this year. I submitted the manuscript already last September 2008.
This is what I learned from Wikipedia.
Risk arbitrage, or merger arbitrage, is an investment or trading strategy often associated with hedge funds.
Translated to investment: Hypothetically, if "Joe's" taco shop was publicly traded at $50.00 per share, and "Sam's" taco shop moved to take over Joe's taco shop at a proposed $65.00 per share, this means Joe's taco shop's shares are instantly worth $65.00 per share. The game comes into play because those same shares are currently trading at only $50.00 per share, should the buyout occur. If the early trades (restricted or non-retail trades) elevate the value up to $60.00 per share, there exists the $5.00 difference. This is the entrance of risk arbitrage. The risk may be easily illustrated that there is a chance that the acquisition may not be completed, and in this case the price per share will reduce to the original $50.00 per share.
A hedge fund is an investment fund open to a limited range of investors that is permitted by regulators to undertake a wider range of activities than other investment funds and also pays a performance fee to its investment manager. Each fund will have its own strategy which determines the type of investments and the methods of investment it undertakes. Hedge funds as a class invest in a broad range of investments extending over shares, debt, commodities and so forth.
As the name implies, hedge funds often seek to offset potential losses in the principal markets they invest in by hedging their investments using a variety of methods, most notably short selling. However, the term "hedge fund" has come to be applied to many funds that do not actually hedge their investments, and in particular to funds using short selling and other "hedging" methods to increase rather than reduce risk, with the expectation of increasing return.
Hedge funds in the United States are pooled investment funds with loose SEC regulation and should not be confused with mutual funds. Some hedge fund managers are required to register with SEC as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. [13] The Act does not require an adviser to follow or avoid any particular investment strategies, nor does it require or prohibit specific investments. Hedge funds typically charge a management fee of 1% or more, plus a "performance fee" of 20% of the hedge fund's profits. There may be a "lock-up" period, during which an investor cannot cash in shares. A variation of the hedge strategy is the 130-30 fund for individual investors.
A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.[1] The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. Currently, the worldwide value of all mutual funds totals more than $26 trillion.[2]
Since 1940, there have been three basic types of investment companies in the United States: open-end funds, also known in the US as mutual funds; unit investment trusts (UITs); and closed-end funds. Similar funds also operate in Canada. However, in the rest of the world, mutual fund is used as a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicles, such as unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), unitized insurance funds, and undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS).
I find this interesting and something I can do since I am a lawyer and I am interested in securities regulation stuff. In fact, I authored a law school textbook entitled "Securities Regulation Code: With Annotation." This was published in September 2002, and a Second Edition is to come out hopefully by June of this year. I submitted the manuscript already last September 2008.
This is what I learned from Wikipedia.
Risk arbitrage, or merger arbitrage, is an investment or trading strategy often associated with hedge funds.
Translated to investment: Hypothetically, if "Joe's" taco shop was publicly traded at $50.00 per share, and "Sam's" taco shop moved to take over Joe's taco shop at a proposed $65.00 per share, this means Joe's taco shop's shares are instantly worth $65.00 per share. The game comes into play because those same shares are currently trading at only $50.00 per share, should the buyout occur. If the early trades (restricted or non-retail trades) elevate the value up to $60.00 per share, there exists the $5.00 difference. This is the entrance of risk arbitrage. The risk may be easily illustrated that there is a chance that the acquisition may not be completed, and in this case the price per share will reduce to the original $50.00 per share.
A hedge fund is an investment fund open to a limited range of investors that is permitted by regulators to undertake a wider range of activities than other investment funds and also pays a performance fee to its investment manager. Each fund will have its own strategy which determines the type of investments and the methods of investment it undertakes. Hedge funds as a class invest in a broad range of investments extending over shares, debt, commodities and so forth.
As the name implies, hedge funds often seek to offset potential losses in the principal markets they invest in by hedging their investments using a variety of methods, most notably short selling. However, the term "hedge fund" has come to be applied to many funds that do not actually hedge their investments, and in particular to funds using short selling and other "hedging" methods to increase rather than reduce risk, with the expectation of increasing return.
Hedge funds in the United States are pooled investment funds with loose SEC regulation and should not be confused with mutual funds. Some hedge fund managers are required to register with SEC as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. [13] The Act does not require an adviser to follow or avoid any particular investment strategies, nor does it require or prohibit specific investments. Hedge funds typically charge a management fee of 1% or more, plus a "performance fee" of 20% of the hedge fund's profits. There may be a "lock-up" period, during which an investor cannot cash in shares. A variation of the hedge strategy is the 130-30 fund for individual investors.
A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.[1] The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. Currently, the worldwide value of all mutual funds totals more than $26 trillion.[2]
Since 1940, there have been three basic types of investment companies in the United States: open-end funds, also known in the US as mutual funds; unit investment trusts (UITs); and closed-end funds. Similar funds also operate in Canada. However, in the rest of the world, mutual fund is used as a generic term for various types of collective investment vehicles, such as unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), unitized insurance funds, and undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS).
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