Chicago Tribune – Imagine hedge funds without brainy managers maneuvering artfully through short-lived market opportunities day in and day out.
You might think the flashy hedge-fund arena could never evolve into this. But with about $1.2 trillion in assets, the industry is maturing. And as it does, analysts are looking for ways to capturethe advantages of hedge funds without the tremendous fees and egos that go with the territory.
Attention is turning to what is known as passive investing. That’s the term that applies to index mutual funds, and that means setting up a portfolio and keeping it intact without human tinkering dayto day.
What’s envisioned for hedge funds tends to be somewhat different than mutual funds. The focus isn’t on replicating an index like the Standard & Poor’s 500, but can be on identifying the specialelements that power various types of hedge funds and then building those mechanically into a portfolio.
