Hedge Fund Book
- Thread starter TimothySykes
- Start date
Quote from SiSePuede!:
So, the guy admits that luck made him a lot of his money, then, when he actually has a fund, he returns an astounding 1.5% the last 4 years, and now he's writing a book? Wow, that's some putz!
mde, how do you know what people are making?
I think your confusing absolute returns against risk-adjusted returns. If he's a short trader then he his fund is taking on negative beta. Having a negative beta for the past 4 years would have been suicide and you would of lost a ton of money. To have a 1.5% annualized ROR means he must of had significant alpha. Granted he could of made more simply indexing or even taking on the risk free rate.
I don't have the data to comfirm but Tim does seem able to create alpha. But his alpha is a lot lower then betas for different asset classes and there lies the problem of his fund. Investors are able to get greater rates of returns on beta then just his alpha. He should find ways to "port" his alpha.
Just my 2 cents.
I feel compelled to repost this latest review from TheStockBandit.net. Many of you know him as a great financial commentator so I think this will help quiet many of my detractors so I do this for the good of the board (and my sanity):
http://www.thestockbandit.net/2007/07/04/timothy-sykes-an-american-hedge-fund/
http://www.thestockbandit.net/2007/07/04/timothy-sykes-an-american-hedge-fund/
Great, so the stockbandit thinks you're a good author. Have fun making a whopping $200k that way and then losing it trading!
How is it that you stopped making gains for the past 2 years and couldn't recreate your gains from pre-fund years?
http://www.dealbreaker.com/2007/02/give_us_tim_sykes_or_give_us_d_1.php
From: Scott Gill
Sent: Mon 2/12/2007 5:12 PM
To: tips-db
Subject: DealBreaker Tip
Hi DealMaker [sic] (Bess in particular),
This is the (infamous) director/producer of WALL STREET WARRIORS. Love reading your reviews. Guess what... we're doing another season! This one is going to be much bigger and better then the last! Excited?
We've started casting. Any chance you'd announce on your site (and feel free to make fun of) that we are looking for new characters for the next season of WALL STREET WARRIORS.
We're looking for people who can:
(A) fit the "Wall Street Warrior" label (but can also be struggling newcomers)
(B) have compelling stories that unfold over 2007
(C) can give us access to both their work and personal life
It's a tall order. Anyone interested should email:
wswcast@hotmail.com
If you need more info let me know.
Thanks!
Scott
Scott J. Gill
Producer WALL STREET WARRIORS
Radius Productions, Inc.
It'll be available everywhere on October 1st, 2007. For now, you can read a few quotes:
http://runningofthebulls.typepad.com/toros_running_of_the_bull/2007/07/insightful-quot.html
http://www.thestockbandit.net/2007/07/04/timothy-sykes-an-american-hedge-fund/
I agree, MOJO has definitely hit their stride.
Haha, that would be funny--I'll ask the producers to shoot that!
Those risk adjusted numbers, and other creative measures of performance, are just crutches for traders and funds to justify underperformance, IMO.
Tim, although I like him, is underperforming, in fact, doing awful. To use some excuse as I only short illiquid small cap stocks, which is a negative beta strategy, and in that context try to put some lipstick on that pig and say that he is actually doing relatively well because he is successfully generating Alpha is just a bunch of nonsense.
In this business, all that matters is making money. You either are profitable, or you are not. You are making money, or you are not. Tim's fund has gone from several million to just over one million. Whether it's from actual losses, or investors tired of under performance allocating their money elsewhere doesn't matter. It is indicative that Tim's fund is not doing well.
Question remains, what to do? First and foremost, get focused on your core business. Time to eliminate the distractions, and focus your time on your business. If i were an investor in your fund, and saw that you were putting your time into reality shows, and writing a book, I would be pissed. Especially since you're performance is awful.
Second, you need to change your approach, put another strategy, or two in play. If what you are doing isn't working, find out what is, and put that strategy into play. Shelve your current strategy, until it starts to perform well, which is likely a flat to down market, and then dust off the cob webs and put it to work when the market conditions are right.
Third, model the big boys, and other successful traders. All top performing traders, and funds, are using advanced technologies to assist them in trading. You need to do the same. I'd suggest that you blend some short term, intraday strategies that generate consistent cashflow, along with your longer term macro strategies. Semi, or full automation is a necessity!
I hope you manage to turn things around, Tim!
Mike
P.S. I'm looking forward to reading your book, why don't you send me an advanced copy?