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This article was written by Meredith Jones, who has more than 16 years of experience as an internationally-recognized researcher, writer, speaker and expert in the alternative investment industry.

Dear Showtime Execs,

I read with great interest (and no small amount of trepidation) about your plans to create a new series based on the hedge fund industry. As I understand it, "Billions" will be based on the interactions of a high finance hedge fund manager (Bobby "Axe" Axelrod) and US Attorney Chuck Rhoades played by character-actor everyman, Paul Giamatti.

As you begin filming, I would like to take a moment to point you towards some of the scintillating "real life" hedge fund moments the series should capture.

1) Most billion-dollar hedge fund managers are named John or David (16 total), with names like William, Kenneth, Robert, James or Paul close seconds. After 17 years in the hedge fund industry, I have yet to meet anyone that goes by a moniker like "Axe." My guess is that in today’s more institutional climate, a nickname like that would be an impediment to raising assets and would be discontinued either by the manager or discouraged by the compliance department. A name like Axe is like speeding in a red sports car. You may be ok, but chances are you’ll attract the wrong kind of attention.

2) Despite the inference that hedge funds frequently engage in insider trading, the actual practice appears to be pretty limited. There are an average of 50 insi......................

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