August seemed to be an especially brutal month for hedge funds. While some (SageCrest Done) were forced into Chapter 11, others (Diamond Lake Investment Group) failed to even get off the ground. Couple that with the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index falling 2 percent in July, and this past summer looks like it's been one of the longer ones in the finance industry.

Still, there were a few bright spots. Several hedge funds, Lone Star in particular, have been buying up thousands of mortgages at discount prices. London's Man Group looks to bring its stellar track record across the pond to a U.S. market starving for good returns. And Jim Simon's, whose Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund manages roughly $13 billion less than it did last year, has at least had better luck with his Medallion fund (it was up 48 percent for the year as of the end of July).