CREATING THE BEST WEALTH MANAGERS
INVESTMENT SERIES:
INSIDER’S VIEW ON HEDGE FUNDS
Thursday, 23 April 2015, 2:00PM - 5:00PM
Fees : $535 (inclusive of 7% GST)
Speaker : Ganesh Ramchandran
This course provides insight into the world of hedge funds from an industry practitioner’s perspective. The wide spectrum of different hedge fund strategies will be
presented with an emphasis on the investment/arbitrage opportunity and the risk management. Quantitative pricing models will be covered but in general the focus
will be on learning simple and complex trading strategies in a non-technical intuitive manner using a “first principles” approach. Real-life “war stories” from the hedge
fund and banking world will be used to supplement conventional text-book analysis.
There will be a special case study type discussion of different hedge fund disasters (including LTCM, Bernie Madoff , SAC, etc), dissecting the particular strategies being
run and an in-depth analysis of the risk management principles that were breached. Students will learn that “informed decision making” usually calls for a balanced
approach – quantitative plus an intuitive market “feel” for what can go horribly wrong.
Students are expected to have a solid understanding of basic financial theory, statistics, arbitrage concepts, statistics and knowledge of basic cash and derivative
products.
SEMINAR TOPICS
1. Introduction to Hedge Funds (HF)
• Basic structure - compare vs. banks and mutual funds
• Performance Measurement (for managers / HF managers)
3. Deep Dive into Credit Strategies
• Products - Single Name / Basket Products / Credit Options
• Hedging Convertible book with Credit
2. Closer Look at the Gamut of Hedge Fund Strategies
• Convertible Arbitrage
• Global Macro
• Long / Short Equity
• Managed Futures
• Multi-Strategy
• Quantitative and Algorithmic Trading
• Event-driven
• Credit
• Others - Volatility, Dedicated Short Bias, Distressed Assets, etc
4. Fund of Funds
• Structure / justification
• Selection of underlying “assets” in portfolio
• Black - LItterman Model applications
5. Infamous Hedge Fund “Accidents”
• LTCM
• Bernie Madoff
• SAC, Galleon, others
For each strategy
>> Main HF managers - AUM, track record
>> Review/summary of asset class/strategy
>> Sample real-life trades/case studies
>> Pricing and Risk Management
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
GANESH RAMCHANDRAN
Ganesh Ramchandran has 25 years of experience in the financial markets across New York, London and Singapore with a background in quantitative trading and risk
management, as well as a strong interest in academics. He has held senior positions in a wide range of institutions including a top hedge fund in London, several
investment banks and the New York Fed. He is currently working as a consultant for the Wealth Management Institute and also teaching courses in fixed income/hedge
funds at the NUS Business School and ESSEC.
Other highlights of Ganesh’s career include:
• Barclays – Senior roles in Asia Treasury (structured funding trades /investments) and Counterparty Risk Management (trading and pricing derivative deals in Asia)
• CQS (London based $10+ billion hedge fund) -- Senior Portfolio Manager in charge of structured credit trading, specialising in credit volatility/correlation
• CSFB - part of team that helped unwind Long Term Capital Management's EUR swap portfolio following hedge fund's collapse in 1998
• Goldman Sachs - part of the Fixed Income Research group that developed the Black-Litterman Global Asset Allocation model and worked directly with Fischer Black in
marketing the model to pension clients
Ganesh holds a BA (Phi Beta Kappa) in Economics and Mathematics, and an MSc in Operations Research, both from Columbia University.
ABOUT THE WMI CPD SERIES
Responding to the strong demand for training wealth professionals, WMI provides Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for
individuals to upgrade their skills and competencies.
The WMI CPD Series is aimed at raising the competencies of Covered Persons, including product knowledge, asset allocation, wealth and tax planning,
ethics, compliance and legal issues, and client relationship management skills.
This course is eligible for 50% funding under the Financial Training Scheme*
The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) administers Financial Training Scheme (FTS) grants to financial sector organisations that sponsor
eligible participants to training programmes that meet qualifying criteria. For more details, please visit www.ibf.org.sg, or contact IBF via
[email protected]
*Terms and Conditions apply.
Wealth Management Institute Pte Ltd
(Regn No 200303588Z)
60B Orchard Road
#06-18 Tower 2
The Atrium@Orchard
Singapore 238891
Tel : (65) 6828 6988
Fax : (65) 6821 1155
E-mail : [email protected]
Website : www.wmi.com.sg