David Thesmar After studying at the Ecole Polytechnique and ENSAE, I joined the French National Statistics Institute as a researcher and teacher, and worked on macroeconomic forecasts as well. I joined HEC School of Management in September 2005, working for the Economics and Finance Department where I teach mainly corporate finance.
Since my thesis, I have had an interest in corporate organization. Why are hierarchies flatter in modern companies? Why do tasks tend to be less clearly defined? Why have employees been given greater autonomy? Why the upsurge in outsourcing? Gradually, my research has turned towards the financial determinants of work organization: in what ways is a company belonging to an investment fund organized differently from a family firm? In what ways does shareholder pressure modify corporate governance?
The mission of the Hedge Fund Center is to encourage study and the dissemination of knowledge in this relatively new segment of the finance industry. It is part of a network of several centers funded by BNP Paribas, the others being hosted by London Business School and Singapore Management University. The center focuses in particular on the revolution in organization that hedge funds represent in the traditional asset management landscape. Rather like biotech firms in the pharmaceutical industry, they focus all the talents required for constant financial innovation in efficient, flexible structures. Like other companies, these management firms are created, innovate, compete and die. Our role is to enhance our understanding of their organization and strategy.
The center also organizes executive training sessions for finance professionals, the first of which will be held in spring 2009.
Finally, I should also point out that it is an academic center, meaning that our sponsor undertakes to have no say in the teaching we dispense or the content of the research we finance.
The course will provide the basic training required to gain a better understanding of the specifics of this sector. We will begin by a description: what strategies are used and what is it that distinguishes hedge funds from other asset management companies? We will then adopt the standpoint of the investor looking into investing in these vehicles. We will raise the question of assessing their performance and the risks that go with them. To finish, we will look into the more financial and less strategic issues. What type of contract should be signed with a hedge fund? Should preference be given to funds of funds or multi-strategy funds? Between niche strategy and mass production, where does the future of hedge funds lie? What should we think of new products such as 130/30 funds or replicants?
The course will offer a dual viewpoint: that of a teacher and researcher (me) and that of a professor in finance (at Chicago GSB and NYU Stern) who became a hedge fund manager (Augustin). The students will therefore have the benefit of sound academic content and hands-on experience.