Understanding Investment Strategies: Hedge Fund, PE, VC, and Asset Management

Useful and succinct summary for people who don't know what finance does beyond being a kind of villain or force of political superstition. Couple decades ago I decided I couldn't consider myself educated or seriously engaged in society unless I could understand the articles in every section of a newspaper. Seems like a low bar, but it's surprising how few people can do it, and some of them even make policy.

The summary in the article gives you an idea of why a private equity firm would buy a certain type of company (consistent cash flows over long time period) vs. why a hedge fund might invest in one (arbitrage, distress, exotic risks, etc.) I'd still say an educated person should be able to read most of a financial newspaper these days. Worth a read to get a sense of it anyway.