One Last Peek Through the Hedges?

It is a strange time for people who follow the hedge fund industry. Thousands of these traditionally secretive investment pools were forced to cough up all kinds of information when a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule took effect in February. Then an appeals court tossed out the rule last month, raising the possibility that the stricter registration requirements will vanish, allowing these funds to retreat back into obscurity.
Drawing upon the figures reported to the S.E.C., Private Equity Info, an Austin, Texas-based outfit that runs a database on private equity firms and hedge funds, offers some data points about an industry in which solid numbers can be hard to come by.