I am now convinced that hedge fund managers/founders/traders are some of the most ambitious and intelligent people on the planet - not to mention, the most well-rounded. From Yale and Harvard graduates with M.B.A.s, Ph.D.s and law degrees (and even one neuroscience degree in the mix), this year's Gold Book honorees are by far some of the brightest and well-educated traders in the industry. One Gold Book honoree even apologetically confessed to being "mildly pointy." Still, these most-accomplished men (yes, they all happen to be men this year) somehow also find time to be triathaletes and professionally ranked tennis players; to fly planes, collect wine and sit on the boards of charitable organizations; and, of course, to have families and coach their children's sports teams.

When we embarked on the 2007 Gold Book, we decided to focus on hedge fund traders. What we found is that unlike the head traders from the traditional asset management firms we featured in last year's Gold Book, most of the hedge fund head traders also are the founders of their companies. Many are the general partners, CEOs and presidents who manage and oversee their businesses. In addition, many wear various other hats, including portfolio manager, research analyst, marketer and technology leader - all while having a hand in trading.

And the trading isn't just single-product trading. This is multi-asset trading at its most complex - foreign exchange, futures and options, equities, fixed income, collateralized debt obligations, and more - all, for the most part, on a global scale. For these executives, the world is big, and they have to be aware at all hours of what is happening all over the world. Things can move fast - so fast, in fact, that one CEO we interviewed whose fund was on top of the world early this summer informed us that as a result of the credit crisis his investments had been cut in half, and his fund may cease to exist. As a result, our list of innovative, interesting and insanely over-accomplished hedge fund traders thus fell from 15 to 14 at press time.

The interviews were much more in-depth, with much more revealed than we could fit on the pages in front of you. We had to cut riveting information from many of these profiles, and it was painful to do so. How did Third Wave get its name? How did Roy Neiderhoffer get his start in the business? How does North Asset Management use algos? Unfortunately, the answers don't appear in print. But I encourage you to visit advancedtrading.com and read the unabridged versions and/or listen to podcasts of the full interviews for more information.

I'd like to thank Randy Devere, our contributing editor, for conducting the majority of the interviews. And, most important, I'd like to thank all of our honorees for allowing us a sneak peek at what they do and how they do it. I must admit that after completing this project, the thought certainly crossed my mind: What I would give to be mildly pointy.


Kerry Massaro
Editor in Chief
Advanced Trading
kmassaro@cmp.com

To read the unabridged profiles or listen to podcasts of the full interviews, visit advancedtrading.com/gold-book-2007