Postmodern Investment: Facts and Fallacies of Growing Wealth in a Multi-Asset World

There have been a lot of big changes in the investment world over the past decade, and many long-cherished beliefs about the structures and performance of various investments no longer apply. Unfortunately the news seems not to have reached many thought leaders and investment professionals who persist in trying, and failing, to apply 20th-century thinking to 21st-century portfolio management. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to the subject of alternative investments. Written by an all-star team of investment management experts, this book debunks common myths and misconceptions about most classes of alternative investments and offers valuable advice on how to develop investment management and asset allocation strategies consistent with the new realities of the ever-changing world of alternative investments.

• Covers most alternative asset classes, including private equity, real estate, managed futures, hedge funds, commodity indices, and more
• Debunks long-held assumptions about the structure and performance of various investment classes that continue to dominate the industry
• Explores the implications for investment managers of the proliferation of international marketable securities and global financial markets
• Provides an overview of both the micro and the macro aspects of each alternative investment class

About the Authors

GARRY B. CROWDER, JD, MBA, MS, is a noted expert in the development and creation of multi-asset portfolio solutions and products. He has designed and implemented asset allocation solutions for leading multinational banks, insurance companies, and family offices. Mr. Crowder created and was managing partner of one of the first and largest hedge fund platforms based on managed accounts. In this capacity, he formed and led the team that created the Zurich Hedge Fund Indices and the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Benchmark Series. With over twenty years of investment experience, he is a founding Director of the Institute for Global Asset and Risk Management and the managing partner of Cortland Advisory Group, a global consulting and investment management firm focused on the risks and vagaries of alternative investments. Mr. Crowder has served as a managing director and member of the executive committee at Morgan Stanley Asset Management, managing partner of Traxis Strategic Asset Management Advisors and Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management Americas.

THOMAS SCHNEEWEIS, PhD, is the Michael and Cheryl Philipp Professor of Finance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is the founding director of the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets. He is also the founding editor of the Journal of Alternative Investments, cofounder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association, and a founding Director of the Institute for Global Asset and Risk Management. During his almost forty years of investment management experience, he has been associated with the development of alpha transfer and fund replication products, the creation and development of the Zurich Hedge Fund Indices and the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Benchmark Series, as well as being instrumental in the creation of the Bache Commodity Index. Schneeweis publishes widely in the area of investment management and is often quoted in the financial press.

HOSSEIN KAZEMI, PhD, CFA, is regarded as a leader in the area of asset allocation, and has published over thirty academic and practitioner articles in the area of asset pricing and asset allocation. He is a founding partner of Alternative Investment Analytics, LLC, and White Bear Partners LLC. Kazemi is a professor of finance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is the Associate Director of the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets. He is the current Program Director of the Chartered Alternative Analyst Investment Association.