Hedge funds are increasingly in the public eye. They are being called upon by regulators and lawmakers to explain their workings amid the widening global credit crisis triggered last summer by the unwinding of collateralised debt obligations linked to US mortgages. Tens of high-profile hedge funds have either liquidated or are suffering widespread redemptions due to mounting losses.

"The current problems are making people sit up and think about the issues facing the industry," says Rajiv Jaitly, the hedge funds operations chief at Axa Investment Managers in London.