Rise of the replicants – Duncan Wood scrutinises the recent emergence of bank-launched indexes and their attempts to replicate certain hedge fund strategies through quantitative, rules-based products.

The hedge fund industry has grown at an astounding pace. There are around 8,000 hedge funds currently in existence, managing anywhere between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in assets. The surge in new entrants has meant hedge funds are no longer the preserve of a few super-rich, in-the-know investors. On the other hand, there are a wide variety of funds pursuing an array of strategies - with some performing significantly better than others, and that's made it increasingly difficult to identify