Many investors believe hedge funds deliver returns of 20% or more each year. That may be the case in some instances, but the data available on hedge fund performance is tainted and doesn't take into account the hefty fees hedge fund managers charge and the enormous risks they assume, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Case in point: Amaranth Advisors, a $7.5 billion hedge fund, is down 35% year-to-date after taking a gamble natural gas prices would rise.
Another case in point, made by Roger Ibbotson, founder of
Hedge funds sometimes include previous results in their performance data, Ibbotson and Chen say, on top of which, only strong performers tend to report their figures. Further, poorly performing hedge funds frequently go out of business, with their poorly performing figures right with them. Such "survivorship bias" can skew hedge fund data upwards.
As a result, the two researchers believe hedge funds actually returned just 9% a year over the past 11 years -- seven-and-a-half percentage points lower than the TASS database.
The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.