The Death of Hedge Funds As We Know Them

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From an interesting article on the death of hedge funds as we've known them:

While Jabre’s decision to return capital from three of his hedge funds rocked the industry this week, closures have been a key theme of 2018. Indeed, the $3 trillion market is shrinking by number of funds as veterans who survived several business cycles throw in the towel. Money-making opportunities have dwindled with the downturn in stocks, while higher barriers to entry from regulation make it harder for new blood to come in. 

But the biggest problem is also the simplest one: nobody really knows how to many money consistently in the current market. 

This year has been an exceptionally tough one for hedge funds as asset prices tanked and volatility - usually a friend for money managers seeking benchmark-beating returns - returned after a period of calm. Wide price swings, a waning bull market and rising interest rates were seen as the elixir the $3.2 trillion industry needed to overcome years of subpar performance. Instead, many firms got pummeled in last month’s market swoon and are headed for their worst year since 2011.

The source.