Title: Handbook of Alternative Assets
Author: Mark Anson
Published: September 2006 (2nd edition)

From Publisher: Since the first edition of the Handbook of Alternative Assets was published, significant events—from the popping of the technology bubble and massive accounting scandals to recessions and bear markets—have shifted the financial landscape. These changes have provided author Mark J. P. Anson with an excellent opportunity to examine alternative assets during a different part of the economic cycle than previously observed in the first edition. Fully revised and updated to reflect today’s financial realities, the Handbook of Alternative Assets, Second Edition covers the five major classes of alternative assets—hedge funds, commodity and managed futures, private equity, credit derivatives, and corporate governance—and outlines the strategies you can use to efficiently incorporate these assets into any portfolio. Throughout the book, new chapters have been added, different data sources accessed, and new conclusions reached.

Title: Evaluating Hedge Fund Performance
Author: Vinh Tran, (Forward by Thomas Schneeweis)
Published: February 2006

From Publisher: Tran gives readers the information they need to construct an efficient hedge fund portfolio based on their own level of knowledge. From evaluating hedge funds to picking the winners, Dr. Tran covers some of the most important issues related to this flexible investment vehicle. Evaluating Hedge Fund Performance takes the standard hedge fund book to a new level by detailing how to manage the risk of hedge funds and offering the best methods to evaluate and monitor hedge funds. With strategy based on interviews and data from experts in the field, this book is a must-read for any investor or manager who is investing in hedge funds.

Title: Unconventional Success
Author: David Swensen
Published: August 2005

From Publisher: Swensen offers incontrovertible evidence that the for-profit mutual-fund industry consistently fails the average investor. From excessive management fees to the frequent “churning” of portfolios, the relentless pursuit of profits by mutual-fund management companies harms individual clients. Perhaps most destructive of all are the hidden schemes that limit investor choice and reduce returns, including “pay-to-play” product-placement fees, stale-price trading scams, soft-dollar kickbacks, and 12b-1 distribution charges.  Swensen’s solution? A contrarian investment alternative that promotes well-diversified, equity-oriented, “market-mimicking” portfolios that reward investors who exhibit the courage to stay the course. Swensen suggests implementing his nonconformist proposal with investor-friendly, not-for-profit investment companies such as Vanguard and TIAA-CREF. By avoiding actively managed funds and employing client-oriented mutual-fund managers, investors create the preconditions for investment success.

Title: Intelligent Hedge Fund Investing
Author: Barry Schachter
Published: 2004

From Publisher: Presents cutting-edge research on hedge funds with broad coverage of investing, risk management and portfolio allocation and in-depth analysis on a variety of topics including VaR estimation, illiquidity and dynamic investment strategies.  Explores important differences between approaches to hedge funds and standard investment choices.  Gain a practical insight into the proper analytical tools for evaluating hedge fund investments in order to reach better decisions both in managing the risk of these investments and in allocating the risk among alternatives.