Hedge funds have suffered their worst quarter in seven years after more than $15bn was pulled out by investors starting to fight back against the high fees being charged across the industry.

对冲基金遭遇了七年来最糟糕的一个季度。开始对抗该行业高佣金的投资者撤出了逾150亿美元资金。

The total invested in hedge funds fell to $2.86tn in the first three months of the year, marking the first time since 2009 that the sector has suffered two consecutive quarters of net outflows.

今年头三个月，对冲基金投资总额下滑至2.86万亿美元，这是自2009年以来该行业首次遭遇连续两个季度的净流出。

Sharp market moves have wrongfooted many groups, leading to poor performances in the first quarter from funds such as Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square, and rankling investors already disgruntled over fee structures charging 2 per cent for management as well as 20 per cent of profits. A broad index of hedge fund performance fell 0.7 per cent in the first quarter, according to HFR data.

急剧的市场变化令许多集团措手不及，导致比尔阿克曼(Bill Ackman)旗下波欣广场资本 (Pershing Square Capital)等基金在第一季度出现糟糕业绩，也令已经对佣金体制不满的投资者愤愤不已。按照现行佣金体制，对冲基金一般收取2%的管理费，外加盈利的20%。根据HFR的数据，衡量对冲基金表现的一个大盘指数今年第一季度下跌0.7%。

Fed up with paying “exorbitant fees” for poor returns, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System has cut its $1.5bn programme, pulling money from managers including Perry Capital and Brevan Howard. The shift comes about 18 months after California’s pension scheme also scrapped hedge funds from its portfolio.

对支付“高昂费用”却得到糟糕回报感到厌烦的纽约市员工退休基金(New York City Employees’ Retirement System)，撤销了其15亿美元的投资计划，从Perry Capital和布勒旺霍华德(Brevan Howard)等基金管理公司撤出了资金。大约18个月前，加利福尼亚州的养老基金也在其投资组合中把对冲基金扫地出门。

At the same time, sovereign wealth funds have been withdrawing billions from asset managers globally as they turn their attention to supporting their own faltering oil-dependent economies.

与此同时，多个主权财富基金近来也在从全球资产管理公司撤出巨额资金，转而支持因依赖石油而遭遇困难的本国经济。

Letitia James, public advocate for the New York pension scheme, attacked managers who “balk at negotiations for investor-favourable terms” believing they “could do no wrong, even as they are losing money”.

纽约退休金计划的公益维护官利蒂希娅礠姆斯(Letitia James)抨击各基金管理公司“不愿就有利于投资者的条款开展磋商”，他们相信自己“不会出错——即使他们在亏损”。

“If they were truly fiduciaries and cared about our members, they would never charge large fees for failing to deliver on their promises,” she said. “Let them sell their summer homes and jets and return those fees to their investors.”

她说：“如果他们是真正可以信赖的受托人，关心我们的成员，他们就永远不会在未能兑现承诺的情况下收取高额佣金。让他们卖掉暑期度假屋和私人飞机，把佣金返还给投资者！”

The largest first-quarter redemptions in the sector came from macro strategies, which saw investor outflows of $7.3bn, and event-driven funds, where $8.3bn was pulled — more than half from activist strategies.

第一季度赎回潮中最大规模的赎回发生在宏观策略基金和事件驱动基金。投资者从前者撤出了73亿美元，从后者撤出了83亿美元，其中一半以上从维权策略基金流出。

However, some pension funds are boosting their exposure to hedge funds. Finland’s state scheme plans to invest $500m in the sector this year, while the Illinois State Universities Retirement System is investing $500m in hedge funds for the first time.

不过，部分退休基金也在加大对对冲基金的敞口。芬兰的国家退休基金计划在今年向对冲基金投资5亿美元，而伊利诺伊州立大学退休金体系(Illinois State Universities Retirement System)正在向对冲基金投出首批5亿美元资金。

US insurers are also tapping the sector to help generate returns.

美国各保险公司也在利用对冲基金帮助获取回报。