A good idea about why more common folks are headed into Hedge Funds from The Economist:
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7912700
In part:
"And yet investors may be willing to gamble, despite the higher fees, because they desperately need high returns. The bear market between 2000 and 2002 brought a sober reassessment of the future returns likely from equities and bonds. With bonds yielding 4-5% and equities returning perhaps 3% on top, composite future returns of 6% or so looked inadequate. Peter Harrison, chief executive of MPC, a fund manager, says that American pension funds have analysed their liabilities. “They need more than 6% to make up the shortfalls in their funds. Whether they earn alpha or not, they have to roll the dice and try to get it."