Dear Alpha Mail Subscriber:

 

By now, we all know the truth: Hedge funds caused the Iceland volcano and ensuing ash cloud.  And if they didn't, they must have profited from it anyway - by shorting natural resources  and eliciting the wrath of Mother Earth.  In any case, it's now clear that volcanoes, the secretive and often unregulated seismic events, must now fall under the purview of EU regulators (along with weather, sun spots, and the "weak nuclear force" in physics).  

 

Such is life this Spring - hedge funds to blame for much of society's ills and desperate regulators taking aim at anything that moves.

 

As usual, we tried to steer clear of the hype (if not the Ash Cloud  - see post) and focus on facts and research - even if it is a little less exciting.  Last month we wondered if long/short funds failed investors in 2009, why hedge fund indices were so similar, if hedge funds with fund-of-funds investors were unique, and what NASCAR could teach us about return persistence.  We also examined recent trends such as NEWCITS, Africa as an emerging market, and the apparent razing of private equity.