The social utility of hedge funds - forex trading strategies short term

The social utility of hedge funds ~ forex trading strategies short term

There is an article in the New Yorker magazine profiling Bridgewater Associates, the worlds biggest global macro hedge fund. Inevitably, we come to the awkward question: "If hedge-fund managers are playing a zero-sum game, what is their social utility?"


I thought about this question a lot in the past, and I used to agree with many others that the social utility of hedge funds, or trading in general, is to provide liquidity to the markets. And a good economic case can be made that the more liquid a market is, the higher the utility it is to all participants. However, based on recent experience of flash crash and other unfortunate mishaps, we find out that traders typically do not provide liquidity when it is needed most! So this answer becomes quite unsatisfactory.


In trying to come up with a better reply, I though it is curious that few people asked "What is the purpose of having a Department of Defence?" since wars between nations are typically also zero-sum games, yet we greatly honour those who serve in the armed forces (in contrast to our feelings for hedge fund managers).


To me, clearly the answer with the best moral justification is that, in both cases, there is great social utility in defending either your clients comfortable retirement from financial meltdown (e.g. due to governmental or corporate mismanagement), or in defending your country from foreign aggression. More specifically, the purpose of hedge funds is to reduce long-term volatility in your clients net worth. (I would like to say "reduce risks to your clients net worth", but that would be a bit too optimistic!) 


I emphasize long-term volatility, because of course trading generates a lot of daily or hourly volatility in your clients equity. But I do not believe that such short-term volatility affects ones life goals. On the other hand, a 3-or-more-year drawdown in a typical buy-and-hold portfolio can wreck havoc with many lives.

If one day, the markets become so quiescent that few hedge funds can generate higher Sharpe ratio than a buy-and-hold portfolio (as indeed seems to be the case with the US equities markets these days), then yes, most hedge fund managers should just quit, instead of hogging intellectual resources from our best universities.

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