Gregory Zuckerman’s The Man Who Solved the Market is well-written with engaging characters and a plot that gets better, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in investment.

The book follows the story of Jim Simons and his record-breaking Medallion hedge fund. Objectively, this is the best performing hedge fund of all time. Over a 30 year period, the fund has delivered a staggering 66.1% pa in investment returns. Almost as extraordinary as the investment returns are the fees that investors pay to Renaissance (the asset management firm founded by Simons). Even accounting for the colossal fees, the fund delivers returns of 39.1% pa, well in excess of famous investors such as George Soros, Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio. This phenomenal success alone makes this an enticing read for investment buffs, before accounting for the additional intrigue provided by the Bob Mercer / Donald Trump storyline.

It is probably fair to say that Simons does not enjoy the same fame as the likes of Soros and Buffett despite Medallion’s extraordinary performance. This is probably down to the relative secrecy of Renaissance. The book starts with Zuckerman recalling warnings from Renaissance staff that he would struggle to find enough content to write the story. Zuckerman does manage to garner enough information to provide a well-explained and broadly understandable overview of some of the strategies deployed by Medallion (which mainly are statistical arbitrage based strategies). However, for readers familiar with quantitative hedge fund strategies, it does read a bit similar to other books and articles on these hedge funds and the book doesn’t really give the “what was so special about Medallion and Renaissance” that I was hoping for. Perhaps I was being a tad optimistic to expect proper insight into such a lucrative and secretive operation, but it does feel a bit “nothing new” in this regard.

What I definitely enjoyed in this book is the more human angle. It follows Simons as he transitions from a charismatic and highly successful academic to running the world’s most successful hedge fund. Simons is a likeable and engaging protagonist, although Zuckerman does not shy away from showing some less savoury aspects of his personality. The book explores Simons’ relationships with an ensemble of other characters, including the enigmatic and ill-tempered James Ax. I enjoyed the contrast of the academic traits of the mathematicians that Simons generally builds his team around with more archetypal Wall Street types. Zuckerman does a good job of capturing how their different mindset allowed the mathematicians to escape the groupthink that is all too prevalent in the investment sphere, as well as the challenges they face when the extraordinary wealth that they accumulate starts to affect their outlooks. Particularly telling is when some characters, made rich beyond their wildest dreams, still feel unfulfilled in their roles if another colleague earned more than them.

The book becomes even more alive as it starts to follow the storyline of Bob Mercer – a key cog in Renaissance’s operation who went on to be a key financier of Donald Trump’s presidential bid. This begins with Mercer enjoying teasing the generally liberal views of his colleagues in the staff canteen. At first, no-one is sure if Mercer is serious with some of his more outlandish views or a skilled wind-up merchant. Without wanting to give too much away, this storyline snowballs and becomes the most exhilarating part of the book. It is also relatable – I’m sure I am not the only person who has been uncomfortable with colleagues expressing certain political views at some after work drinks. It raises some interesting questions about the extent to which employers should take heed of employees’ interests outside the workplace. Simons initially supports Mercer as he is brilliant at his job, but this position becomes more difficult to maintain as investors, regulators and other employees start to question Simon’s loyalty to Mercer.