A hedge fund is a lightly regulated pooled investment vehicle in which a number of investors entrust money to an investment manager who selects among a variety of financial instruments and investment strategies with the aim of achieving a consistent, positive return regardless of overall market performance. A hedge fund manager—who may be an individual but is more commonly a firm or a unit of a large financial institution—invests the money, usually in publicly traded securities, using a broader range of financial instruments and trading strategies than is permitted by law for other investment vehicles, such as mutual funds. Hedge funds are also characterized by a distinctive fee structure in which compensation is based not only on the total assets under management but also on ...