Reuters – Hedge funds, which long tried to stay out of sight, were featured in 39,989 news stories last year as journalists wrote a record number of articles about the fast growing asset class, datareleased on Tuesday show.
Intrigued by hedge funds’ meager performance but high fees plus speculation about how and when the next hedge fund might collapse, reporters published 43 percent more stories about hedge funds in 2005 than they did in 2004, New York-based public relations firm Walek & Associates found. The firm runs data base searches annually on how often hedge funds turn up in the news and reviewed stories written by top news organizations.
Hedge funds are slightly regulated funds that can employ techniques that are often off limits at traditional funds.
“The media’s relationship with hedge funds can best be seen as a blind date that has blossomed into a torrid affair,” the firm wrote in its report.
