Reuters - The days of hedge funds as a red-hot asset class may be cooling, according to a new survey released by fund research firm Morningstar on Monday.
Nearly half of all financial advisers who help wealthy people invest their money said they expect hedge funds to become somewhat less or much less important in clients’ […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - Morningstar and Barron’s today released highlights of a recent national survey examining the perception and usage of alternative investments among institutions and financial advisors.
“Our survey found that both institutions and advisors want alternative investments that are liquid, transparent, and regulated like traditional investments,” said Steve Deutsch, director of separate accounts […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index lost 3.12% in August, significantly underperforming U.S. and global equity and bond markets.
August, like July, was characterized by a large drop in emerging markets and commodities. "Even though commodity prices have started to descend, their lofty valuations slowed growth and demand, especially in […]

Bloomberg - Kenneth Heebner, manager of the top-ranked U.S. stock mutual fund, is seeking as much as $5 billion for his first hedge fund.
Heebner, who has worked in the mutual-fund business almost four decades, formed a private investment partnership in June called Wayfarer Capital LP, according to Aug. 14 regulatory filings. The size of the […]

CNBC - Returns are meager or negative, capital flows are slowing and hedge funds appear to be folding at a record rate; so monied investors might be prompted to ask … who needs a hedge fund anyway? 
“Institutions have taken over the hedge fund space," says Morningstar analyst Nadia Van Dalen, adding they are intrinsically […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) -  Hedge funds saw their worst monthly performance in the history of the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index. The index returned a negative 3.07% in July 2008, an eventful month for the markets.
In the first half of July, high oil prices and continued trouble in the U.S. banking sector caused equities […]

Reuters UK - U.S. airlines are cheering a steep decline in the price of jet fuel since mid-July, when crude oil began a nearly $27-per-barrel descent, but that good news may come with a slight sting for carriers that locked in fuel prices when oil was at its peak.
The risk is that oil may drift […]

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net)- In a summary of hedge fund performance for the second quarter of 2008, Morningstar, Inc. marked June as a bad end to a good quarter. The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index fell 0.73% during the month, pushing down second-quarter returns to 2.07%. Year to date, the index is up only 0.31%, […]

Reuters India- U.S. firm Morningstar Inc will expand its investment research coverage to Indian funds by early next year and hopes to hire 10-20 staff by March, a senior executive said on Monday.
Morningstar, founded by its Chairman and Chief Executive Joe Mansueto in his Chicago apartment in 1984, has made a name for itself by […]