More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite (Council on Foreign Relations Books (Penguin Press))
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- Create Date：2021-09-01 09:54:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Sebastian Mallaby
- ISBN：0143119419
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Summary
"Splendid。。。the definitive history of the hedge fund， a compelling narrative full of larger-than-life characters and dramatic tales。" -- The Washington Post
Wealthy， powerful， and potentially dangerous， hedge fund moguls have become the It Boys of twenty-first- century capitalism。 Beating the market was long thought to be impossible， but hedge funds cracked its mysteries and made fortunes in the process。 Drawing on his unprecedented access to the industry， esteemed financial writer Sebastian Mallaby tells the inside story of the hedge funds， from their origins in the 1960s to their role in the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009。
Wealthy， powerful， and potentially dangerous， hedge fund moguls have become the It Boys of twenty-first- century capitalism。 Beating the market was long thought to be impossible， but hedge funds cracked its mysteries and made fortunes in the process。 Drawing on his unprecedented access to the industry， esteemed financial writer Sebastian Mallaby tells the inside story of the hedge funds， from their origins in the 1960s to their role in the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009。
Reviews
Lan
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4。5
Sophia
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Enjoyable popcorn about epic trades blowing up spectacularly。 The stories give a vivid sense of how ferocious the market can be when they smell blood。 I was less interested in the underlying argument made by the author about how hedge funds are a good thing。
John
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If you thought bankers were elite， wait till you get to Mallby’s More Money Than God。 In his view， the hedge fund industry exists to take advantage of all manner of asymmetrical opportunities created by stupidity of commercial， investment and central bankers， not to mention other players in the wider equity markets， and even the general public。 Ok， I exaggerate， but not much。Here we have a case study style history of what is still a niche and little known industry。 It is an important story becau If you thought bankers were elite， wait till you get to Mallby’s More Money Than God。 In his view， the hedge fund industry exists to take advantage of all manner of asymmetrical opportunities created by stupidity of commercial， investment and central bankers， not to mention other players in the wider equity markets， and even the general public。 Ok， I exaggerate， but not much。Here we have a case study style history of what is still a niche and little known industry。 It is an important story because of the outsize impact that hedge funds have had， and the book dispels many of the myths that are reported about them in the media。 As with everything， detail matters and it is here in spades。Mallaby is a cheerleader for the industry as a whole， repeatedly demonstrating the role it has in bringing ‘truth’ to market values。 He excuses the behaviour of hedge funds at every turn - even in the face of， for example， the predatory actions that collapsed the Thai economy by 17%， plunging millions into poverty。 In each case the blame is shifted to the other side’s lack of competence or action rather than questioning social or moral values。 It’s a numbers game and the hedge funds win most of the time。He is correct in pointing out the difference between too-big-to-fail banks and other financial institutions - poster boys of moral hazard who mange risk less acutely than their cousins in hedge funds and then shift their failures to taxpayers when they get things wrong。 Hedge funds typically blow up and go away。 However as hedge funds become more like investment banks in activities and scale， that difference diminishes over time。 We probably have a few too-big-to-fail hedge funds now （10+ years after publication）。Unintentionally， More Money Than God reminds us that the rollercoaster of the hedge fund industry is ultimately just a reflection of egos， auras of invincibility and human frailties。 They are just men （and women）， not masters of any universe。Sometimes the “willing suckers on the other side” are hedge funds themselves。 。。。more
Ardon Pillay
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The global financial markets remind me a lot of the human body， and the intricate physiological systems contained within it。 Various different control points serve to maintain some level of consistency in trends within equity/bond/derivative markets， as well as within the body。 This means that one can （in theory） use first principles （combined with contextual information） to identify arbitrage opportunities， in the same way one could "logic out" how the body might respond to blood loss。 The sort The global financial markets remind me a lot of the human body， and the intricate physiological systems contained within it。 Various different control points serve to maintain some level of consistency in trends within equity/bond/derivative markets， as well as within the body。 This means that one can （in theory） use first principles （combined with contextual information） to identify arbitrage opportunities， in the same way one could "logic out" how the body might respond to blood loss。 The sort of mental process involved in this is exemplified by hedge funds， filled with traders and managers who constantly seeking out alpha via asymmetrical bets， off which they can profit。 The dynamics of block trading were particularly fascinating to me， because in theory， it sounds like a neat and tidy system。 But of course， it is not without its problems， as seen with the behaviour of some rather shady brokers。 Each big hedge fund manager Mallaby profiles is painted in vivid colour， from Soro’s view that one has to play the psychological angle with investments， to Paul Tudor Jones’ “ride the wave” philosophy。 I also really liked the analysis of how Soros famously broke the Bank of England， it’s all from first principles， like much of the book， which makes it very easy to follow。 The book moves on chronologically from Soros and the other big currency traders of the 90s， reaching the rise of the quants。 I couldn’t help but marvel at the sort of lateral thinking that these players were deploying， as exemplified by the mechanics of Brown and Mercer’s French translation programme。 However， the strategy of chasing ghosts in the machine did play a role in the quant crisis of 2007， with random market anomalies being picked up， and triggering large price movements。Ultimately， the question this book seeks to answer is， “are hedge funds good for the world？” Mallaby asserts that they are， pointing to the limited jeopardy that their implosions pose to global markets， and the fact they shift risk away from the big banks which are "big enough to fail。" I suspect this is a bit of an optimistic view of the situation， given hedge funds still do wield such incredible power over financial markets， which is somewhat unchecked。 。。。more
Alex
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Good read on the history of hedge（d） funds。 Slow read but that's pretty typical of books in this genre。 Good read on the history of hedge（d） funds。 Slow read but that's pretty typical of books in this genre。 。。。more
Robert Carroll
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Perfect book if you're looking for a general overview of hedge funds or you're interesting in recent history regarding hedge funds/finance。 It doesn't go too in depth but it does cover a lot！ Perfect book if you're looking for a general overview of hedge funds or you're interesting in recent history regarding hedge funds/finance。 It doesn't go too in depth but it does cover a lot！ 。。。more
Saad
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Fascinating readIt’s fascinating how hedge funds were at the Center of all major financial events since the 1950s， either driving the crisis or escalating it - never being an insignificant force during those times。 The author has been brilliant with the details and insight of each event。 It was also intriguing how HFs could be a pain for large governments but were still off tough regulations。I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the various investmen Fascinating readIt’s fascinating how hedge funds were at the Center of all major financial events since the 1950s， either driving the crisis or escalating it - never being an insignificant force during those times。 The author has been brilliant with the details and insight of each event。 It was also intriguing how HFs could be a pain for large governments but were still off tough regulations。I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the various investment strategies through out-of-the-box thinking employed by HFs。 It is a relevant book because I think HFs will remain a relevant force in the markers and can continually shake them in the future。 。。。more
Alessandro Perilli
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The most insightful， comprehensive， and engaging book about hedge funds I read so far。 Highly recommended。
Bouke
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A description of how the hedge fund industry came to be， and about what they actually are。 It was also a food background into some well-known people like George Soros and how they gathered their fortune。 It's not so conclusive on whether hedge funds are good。 Having many small hedge funds are certainly a better alternative to big banks gambling people's savings， because the funds have more 'Skin in the Game' so to say， but if they blow up they are not a systemic risk （though it was pretty close A description of how the hedge fund industry came to be， and about what they actually are。 It was also a food background into some well-known people like George Soros and how they gathered their fortune。 It's not so conclusive on whether hedge funds are good。 Having many small hedge funds are certainly a better alternative to big banks gambling people's savings， because the funds have more 'Skin in the Game' so to say， but if they blow up they are not a systemic risk （though it was pretty close some times）。All in all hedge funds are not that important。 It is also not likely that the insane returns they enjoyed in the 80s/90s are repeatable today。 Looking at the whole market， hedge funds don't really outperform。This was a good book on the topic though。 Quite thorough going through the different eras of the industry。 。。。more
George Tharp
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Pretty good。 Great history of hedge funds and wall street。 Pretty entertaining， and learned quite a bit。
Amaan Pirani
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+ Mallaby makes complicated financial concepts accessible; some of the stories in the book are interesting and I learned at least， some things， reading this book- that said， the book's tropes get a bit repetitive （i。e。 hedge fund generates insane alpha for a few years， eventually underestimates risk; other predatory hfs come in， short the flailing hfs positions to a degree where the flailing hfs excessive leverage causes it to go under） - the author's defense of hfs wasn't super compelling; most + Mallaby makes complicated financial concepts accessible; some of the stories in the book are interesting and I learned at least， some things， reading this book- that said， the book's tropes get a bit repetitive （i。e。 hedge fund generates insane alpha for a few years， eventually underestimates risk; other predatory hfs come in， short the flailing hfs positions to a degree where the flailing hfs excessive leverage causes it to go under） - the author's defense of hfs wasn't super compelling; most of his arguments felt like stretches; just because investment banks （which are too big to fail） taking on 30x debt:equity ratios is more dangerous than hfs levering at such rates， doesn't mean hfs don't also need significant regulation; ultimately hfs are institutions that exacerbate wealth inequality， whose exorbitant salaries distract the most educated in our society from solving bigger problems 。。。more
Nader Alfie
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Historical narrative focusing on the salient figures （e。g。， Alfred Jones， George Soros， Paul Tudor Jones） and entities （e。g。， LTCM） that played an important role in the history of hedge funds。
Atanu Basak
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Great articulation of the hedge fund history in USA。
Joonas Viitanen
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Edellinen lukemani Mallabyn teos （Alan Greenspanistä） saattoi paikoitellen lipsahtaa kuivan jaarittelun puolelle， mutta tässä Mallaby kirjoittaa finanssimarkkinoista yhtä selkeästi ja viihdyttävästi kuin Michael Lewis。 Hedgerahastojen historia on kattava mutta tiivis， strategioita ja termistöä avataan vain rajoitetusti sen ollessa välttämätöntä ja eri aikakausien oppeihin ja Mallabyn johtopäätöksiin palataan tarpeeksi， jotta "tarina" tuntuu johdonmukaiselta。Kirjan sanoma on melko erilainen kuin Edellinen lukemani Mallabyn teos （Alan Greenspanistä） saattoi paikoitellen lipsahtaa kuivan jaarittelun puolelle， mutta tässä Mallaby kirjoittaa finanssimarkkinoista yhtä selkeästi ja viihdyttävästi kuin Michael Lewis。 Hedgerahastojen historia on kattava mutta tiivis， strategioita ja termistöä avataan vain rajoitetusti sen ollessa välttämätöntä ja eri aikakausien oppeihin ja Mallabyn johtopäätöksiin palataan tarpeeksi， jotta "tarina" tuntuu johdonmukaiselta。Kirjan sanoma on melko erilainen kuin uskoin sen lukemisen aloittaessani olevan。 Odotin edes hieman The Big Short tyylistä tarinaa ahneudesta ja varoittavista esimerkeistä mutta Mallaby sen sijaan korostaa hedgerahastojen roolia vakauttavina ja hyvin toimivina instituutioina。 Tästä on argumentit kuultuaan hankala olla eri mieltä; rahaston kaatuessa liikaa riskiä ottaneet omistajat/sijoittajat kärsivät tappioita （kuten kuuluukin） mutta tuho ei todennäköisesti leviä muuhun finanssijärjestelmään， eikä hedgerahastojen ajoittainen ylilyönti ole johtanut verorahoja syöneisiin pelastuksiin （kuten monien muiden rahalaitosten）。 Ja tämä kaikki tapahtuu hyvin vähäisen valvonnan seurauksena koska riskit otetaan tosissaan （"skin in the game" kuten Nassim Taleb kehuisi） eikä skaala ole sama kuin esim。 investointipankeilla。Tämän lisäksi ne vielä monilla mittareilla tuottavat paremmin kuin vertailtavat rahastot （PE， mutual fundit jne） vielä kulujenkin jälkeen， osin pienemmän koon ja joustavuuden ansiosta samalla tasoittaen markkinoiden hintaeroja ja likviditeettiongelmia， sillä hedgerahastojen tuotto perustuu usein juuri näiden korjaamiseen tuottoa keräten。 Lopputulemana siis opettavainen ja viihdyttävä lukukokemus jolle iso suositus！ 。。。more
iTZKooPA
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It's very well researched。 I feel like if Mallaby used more visuals and timelines the book could be substantially shorter while delivery the minutia in a more digestible way。 In addition， I felt the book for very repetitive。 Smart people locate inefficiencies in various markets and pounce then onto the next one。 It's very well researched。 I feel like if Mallaby used more visuals and timelines the book could be substantially shorter while delivery the minutia in a more digestible way。 In addition， I felt the book for very repetitive。 Smart people locate inefficiencies in various markets and pounce then onto the next one。 。。。more
Lisa Wang
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Got a bit repetitive at times and author is kind of a hedge fund apologist but still an even keeled analysis and history of hedge funds。 Enjoyable。
Sam Richter
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The definitive history of hedge funds， each chapter follows a different character and era。 The chapters on Soros were enlightening to me， and had a big effect on how I think about investing。 Necessary reading for financial and economic history。
Pooja
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This is a must-read。 Lessons about how the markets work written by a master storyteller。 The author weaves stories of big personalities with deep dives into fundamental investing and technical trading， making for a fascinating lesson in the history of financial markets。 The one central theme is that unlike big banks， hedge funds never needed government bailouts - Sebastian Mallaby takes this argument to some extreme lengths。
Rebecca
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Historical overview of how hedge funds came to be
Totol BookhoarderIV
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This gentleman thinks "Gamestoppers" are worse than the insurrectionists of Capitol Hill on January 6th。 Really dude？ https://www。washingtonpost。com/opinio。。。 This gentleman thinks "Gamestoppers" are worse than the insurrectionists of Capitol Hill on January 6th。 Really dude？ https://www。washingtonpost。com/opinio。。。 。。。more
Junhui
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A storybook about hedge funds。 Full of risk， greed， and Wall Street genius。
Larkkonen
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Interesting topic， sometimes felt a bit boring。 Personally， interested in finance so YMMV。
Edison Giang
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This book did not prepare me for the GME， AMC， etc。 turnaround。
Vivek Ramaswami
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Very informative and comprehensive narrative of the history and of the evolution of hedge funds， from AW Jones in the late 1940s all the way through the three hedge fund titans of the 1980s/1990s （Steinhardt， Soros， and Robertson） to John Paulson during the mortgage crisis。 While I felt the book was very educational and full of interesting stories， I wasn't always engaged and often felt overwhelmed by the onslaught of dense factoids。 But if you're looking to learn more about the hedge fund indus Very informative and comprehensive narrative of the history and of the evolution of hedge funds， from AW Jones in the late 1940s all the way through the three hedge fund titans of the 1980s/1990s （Steinhardt， Soros， and Robertson） to John Paulson during the mortgage crisis。 While I felt the book was very educational and full of interesting stories， I wasn't always engaged and often felt overwhelmed by the onslaught of dense factoids。 But if you're looking to learn more about the hedge fund industry and how it evolved over several decades， it is a good read。 。。。more
Tiavii Rakoto
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Best book on the history of hedge funds。 period。
Ethan Lambert
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Best book on High Finance。 Both Informative & Interesting。
Matt DosSantos DiSorbo
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Refreshingly positive take on financial services。 A valuable account of George Soros， who remains an underrated world figure。
Manish Gupta
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An absolutely excellent read on the fascinating history of hedge funds。 Major financial events of the past few decades have been intricately interwoven into the narrative and how the hedge funds benefited or went bust from these events makes for a very interesting read。 The double edged sword of leverage coupled with a need to generate outsized profits by taking risks in illiquid/esoteric instruments which ultimately led to either outsized profits or a tendency to go belly up is told through var An absolutely excellent read on the fascinating history of hedge funds。 Major financial events of the past few decades have been intricately interwoven into the narrative and how the hedge funds benefited or went bust from these events makes for a very interesting read。 The double edged sword of leverage coupled with a need to generate outsized profits by taking risks in illiquid/esoteric instruments which ultimately led to either outsized profits or a tendency to go belly up is told through various events。 All the major events like the Black Monday， UK Currency peg， Bond crisis， Asian currency crisis， DotCom bust， GFC and the impact that they have had on the hedge funds and the industry is well captured。 The bust of LTCM， Bear， Lehmann and others provide interesting insights into the times。 The fall of Amaranth was undoubtedly the most stupid one。 On the other hand the success of Soros， Druckenmiller， AWJones， Farallon， Robertson and others in generating alpha over decades is highly inspiring。However at the heart of the book is the question about the nature of hedge funds。 Are these risk taking highly leveraged beasts which can bring down financial markets and in some cases entire countries。 How do they compare with the Big Banks。 Should hedge funds be regulated。 What effect regulation has on financial institutions。 All of these questions have been dealt in detail throughout and provides the reader with great insights into the financial world。Highly recommended for anybody with interest in financial markets。 。。。more
Peter Deegan
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+ relatively understandable （complex ideas explained well）， not as ideologically pure as I expected， wasn't charged or finger-pointy， explores different framings， mind-blowing - dramatic at times， quotes journalists a lot， overly simplistic at times + relatively understandable （complex ideas explained well）， not as ideologically pure as I expected， wasn't charged or finger-pointy， explores different framings， mind-blowing - dramatic at times， quotes journalists a lot， overly simplistic at times 。。。more
Hqwxyz
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