Summertime, and making a living’s easy for many in the hedge fund industry. All things considered, it’s been a strong year for hedge funds. In the first half, they have risen nearly 10 percent on average, according to Hedge Fund Research. That’s the best first quarter since 1999, when the average fund returned 12.5 percent in the first six months of the year.

Four hedge funds have seen particularly strong turnarounds, according to the New York Post: Ken Griffin's Kensington fund, which is up 21 percent this year after dropping 55 percent in 2008; Steve Cohen's SAC Capital, up 14 percent after falling 18 percent in 2008; Paul Tudor Jones, up 13 percent after dipping 5 percent; and Dan Loeb's Third Point Offshore, which is up 5 percent after falling 33 percent last year.

Still, the future is looking significantly sunnier for the big firms, as smaller firms continue to struggle to bounce back from 2008's lows. Crain's New York says, hedge fund managers are digging in their heels in order to survive the coming months, which are sure to be fraught with “regulation, far less leverage and substantially slimmer profits.” The publication predicts that 25 percent of all funds will shutter in the coming year.