Got Hedge Fund Questions? Bring ‘Em On.

I have a friend named Neil Barsky who used to be a journalist and now runs a hedge fund. This is not a typical progression in the journalism field. But that’s the fact. He did most of his journalism for the Wall Street Journal, principally covering real estate, and then he worked as a research analyst at Morgan Stanley, where he dealt with real estate, gaming, and lodging.

Now he’s the managing partner of Alson Capital, a long-short equity hedge fund with about $3 billion under management. Although Alson is not a giant of the hedge-fund world, it is big enough, and Neil is smart enough, to answer whatever questions you might have about hedge funds — how they’re run, what kind of productivity and investment they generate, how they handle risk, how the famous 2 & 20 fee works, etc. There is a certainly a lot to ask these days, what with Congress thinking about raising the taxes on hedge fund and private equity earnings; with New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, of all people, running interference for the equity crowd; and with a well-heeled fund like Sowood Capital losing its footing.

So, in the fine tradition of earlier reader-generated Q&A’s with Mark Cuban, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and others, go ahead and fire away at Neil. We’ll post his answers in the coming days.

Addendum: The answers to these questions can be found here.