Arizona Republic – If you had a chance to look under the hood of your pension fund, you just might find a hedge fund or two inside.
Public pension funds, like other investors, have been struggling to boost returns amid sluggish stock and bond markets. Many have turned to hedge-fund managers and their often-unorthodox ways to get a bigger bang for the buck.
Hedge funds have been on a roll anyway. The snooty, unregulated and byzantine investment partnerships now count more than $1 trillion in assets and outnumber mutual funds, by some estimates.
Their ability to ride unconventional tactics to modest gains during the stock-market slump of 2002 generated fans among rich individuals, endowments and other upscale investors.
Many pension funds, which invest on behalf of various employee groups, are showing interest.
