By Anastasia Donde
When pension funds started making their first investments in hedge funds a few years ago, many opted to hire funds-of-funds managers, thinking that these experienced middlemen could do a better job of picking out good hedge fund managers and were better equipped to investigate them.
Fed up with the high fees, low returns and sloppy due diligence offered by some funds of funds, many pension funds recently have dispensed with the middleman altogether and are going straight into hedge funds. But one California pension is thinking about going the old-school route—at least in part.
The City of San Jose Retirement Services Department, which oversees investments for two city pensions that manage a combined $4.1 billion, has decided to invest in hedge funds for the first time after losing north of 20% on its traditional investments in 2008.
San Jose is looking into funds of funds...