Is the bloom still off the hedge fund rose? Well, that's hard to say. We've been hearing about the end of the boom years for awhile now. Today's column from TheStreet.com is a good example. Personally, I think the industry is hitting a bit of a plateau. No one would be surprised to see the ranks of hedge funds thin just a bit more. As long as pensions and endowments are sold on alternative investments, they will continue to allocate money (lots) to these funds. But you have to wonder when performance will start to be an issue. Last year, the average hedge fund returned 13 to 13.9 percent, which is not really what pension managers invest in hedge funds for. The returns over the last three years for that matter have been somewhat disappointing. For the most part, it's becoming a fund-picking game. There will be some winners. Some.

For more:
- read this column from TheStreet.com