Introduction
Are You Alternative? Dare to Expose Yourself
Let’s talk about you.
Be honest—you’re tired of the same old up-and-down from your “missionary position” 60/40 stock and bond portfolio. You read about people who are experimenting with alternatives, and wonder—should you do it, too? Can it be wrong, if all the cool kids are doing it? Especially, the rich cool kids? Certainly you don’t want to get hurt, and you don’t want to hurt anyone else. But you’re curious. You’ve felt the attraction, and even though you’ve tried to fight it, it’s not letting you go.
If you wanted to give the alternative investing lifestyle a spin, where would you start? Most of these investments are complicated and confusing, especially if you skipped graduate school that year. Meanwhile, the managers who specialize in them all talk to each other but rarely to outsiders. By law, hedge funds aren’t even allowed to advertise, so they don’t have a massive advertising budget devoted to reaching out and educating the high-net-worth about features and benefits. It’s like you have to know somebody to get in.
Curious? That’s where The Little Book of Alternative Investing comes in. Consider this little book to be your personal how-to Kama Sutra investment manual. We are going to rip off the plain brown wrapper and show you some new positions to try. We’re going to take you on a tour through these strange and luxuriant jungle offerings, explain in plain English how they work, and tell you how to use them in ...
