Seeking Alpha – With the news getting worse and worse for the hedgies (e.g. Fortress, Thomas Lee, D. E. Shaw), it’s time for a rethink on hedge funds.
For hedge fund investors: You probably went into them believing that they were uncorrelated absolute return vehicles, or pure alpha. Isn’t it funny how correlations all go to 1 in times of crisis? Maybe it’s time to return to your roots and understand the role of alternative investments in your portfolio.
For hedge fund managers: The really successful ones began fifteen or twenty years ago as small, nimble, guerilla investors. Somewhere along the way the guerillas came down from the hills, got big and became the government. Maybe it’s time to return to the hills again.
Investors thought hedge funds were the panacea when the hedgies showed positive returns in the post-Tech bubble crash. Ultimi Barbarorum writes:
Last time we had a bear market, hedge fund fortunes were made. Andor Capital, William von Meuffling, Crispin Odey, Chris Hohn, even Jim Cramer when he was trading, all made out like bandits producing 20-50% returns on the short side in 2000-2002, many after having doubled their money by being long in 1999.
