For a financial journalist, it’s hard to imagine a better beat than hedge funds. Thanks to their virtually unmatched economics and largely unfettered freedom, hedge funds have attracted some of the investment world’s cleverest — and most colorful — characters. During my four years as editor of Alpha, I’ve gotten to speak with more than my fair share of them, including Steve Cohen, Ken Griffin, George Soros and Paul Tudor Jones. One of my fondest, and funniest, memories is of sitting next to Cohen, the founder of SAC Capital Advisors, last fall at the inaugural dinner for the Alpha Hedge Fund Hall of Fame, as he and his wife, Alex, discussed the trials and tribulations of raising teenage daughters. (Some problems even money can’t solve.) As the father of a 13-year-old daughter, as well as a 15-year-old son, I was quite sympathetic.
Magazines, like children, often experience growing pains. Longtime readers of Alpha may remember the original primitive look, with its big blocky type and bright primary colors. Six years ago, when then– Institutional Investor Editor Mike Carroll launched Alpha, having a simple templated design was the only way to deliver a quality product using limited resources. Mike deserves a lot of credit for the success of Alpha, and not just because he brought me in as editor. Two and a half years ago, he hired Nathan Sinclair, whose art direction transformed Alpha from a publication that looked as if it had been crafted for preschoolers to the elegant and sophisticated magazine you are reading now. As a measure of just how far it has come, Alpha was recently named by the American Society of Business Publication Editors as a finalist for its 2009 regional Azbee Awards of Excellence in 11 categories, including seven involving design.
Clearly, I’m a proud parent when it comes to Alpha (my kids are pretty special too). That’s why it both excites and saddens me to tell you that the magazine is being merged with Absolute Return, another award-winning hedge fund publication in the Euromoney Institutional Investor family. Our hope is that the new magazine — which will be called AR: Absolute Return + Alpha and debut in September — will bring an even higher level of journalistic coverage to the hedge fund industry by combining the very best elements of its two predecessors under Michelle Celarier, the editor of Absolute Return. I’m confident that Alpha readers will be in good hands with Michelle and her team .
As for me, I will be focusing my time and energy on Institutional Investor magazine. Although I’ll always follow hedge funds, I’m looking forward to finding the colorful characters on other beats.
