Dummies Book Adding Fuel To Hedge Fund Fire

If hedge funds weren’t hot enough already, even overheated according to some observers, publisher Wiley has stoked the fire with a new book that aims to fan the flames of money-making ambitions of even the simplest folk. The new volume, Hedge Funds For Dummies, is a 342-page paperback that sells for 25 bucks –but the smart shopper can get for $16.49 at Amazon.com. The fact that the tome is so reasonably priced suggests – and the publisher may quibble with this – that Wiley is trying to accomplish what lawmakers are trying to avoid, namely making hedge funds too accessible to the people who can’t afford to lose money on them. The book, written by financial writer and HF specialist Ann Logue, is comprehensive, beginning with a detailed description of a hedge fund and what it does to a section on how to create a portfolio that works and how to evaluate fund and HF management performance. Three times in its description on the Wiley Web site, the book is described as “friendly,” but perhaps the friendliest advice would be to tell people with small bank balances and big dreams of profits in investments that hedge funds are not meant for the weak-hearted and weak check-booked. As financial planner Troy Sumrall of Baton Rouge, La.-based Brookfield Securities commented on New York Times’ Dealbreaker, “Think of hedge funds as wealth distribution, from people wealthy enough to demonstrate they don’t need better than market returns to fund managers and the Wall Street firms that execute their numerous orders. There is no secret way, year over year, to beat the market no matter how much money you’re willing to burn.”