Peeping through the hedge

Hedge funds - once characterized as secretive, private and lacking in transparency - have changed. In 1990 there were as few as 300 funds in the US. Now, they number over 7,000 and constitute a $650 bn industry. In the next five to ten years, hedge fund assets are predicted to exceed $1 tn. Like any great secret, it seems they're too good to be kept quiet.Sticking its head above the parapet, however, has meant that this mainly unregulated industry has become the subject of calls for greater