James Simons has been near the top of the hedge fund industry for a long time. But he's run into some problems with his Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund (RIEF). As of August 2007, The Economist notes, the fund had $28 billion in assets. But in 2008, it lost 16 percent and investors withdrew $12 billion.

This year, the "downward spiral" has continued; the fund is down 17 percent so far. It now manages less than $10 billion. Simons has an answer. It is not designed to replicate his still fabulously successful Medallion fund, which seeks small price discrepancies. RIEF is more of a buy and hold sort of fund. Many positions are held for a year. It is measured against the S&P 500, which it has beaten by 4 percent a year since it was launched. He's certainly not standing still. He made headlines not too long ago for his move to allow investors to redeem funds every three months instead of every three years.  

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