Everyman Hedge Funds for Bear Markets

Turner Investment Partners has long been known for offering growth funds. But the company recently departed from its traditional approach, introducing Turner Spectrum Fund(TSPEX Quote), which takes short positions and resembles a hedge fund.

Designed to excel in down markets, the new fund aims to attract retail investors and institutions, including veteran users of hedge funds. "The objective is to deliver equity-like returns while producing half the volatility of the S&P 500," says Matthew Glaser, Turner's director of alternative strategies.

Turner is seeking to win customers at a time when plenty of investors are furious at hedge funds and other investments that are called alternative assets. Most hedge funds lost money last year, but what really angered investors was that many funds barred redemptions. Unable to bail out, investors were forced to continue paying high fees to funds that dropped relentlessly for months.

The new Turner fund offers hedge-like strategies packaged as an old-fashioned mutual fund. Traditional mutual funds may not come with much prestige, but they charge relatively low fees, and you can withdraw your money every day.

Turner isn't alone in its efforts to reach wary hedge fund investors. Several large hedge fund companies have recently introduced mutual funds. ACR Capital Management, which manages $19 billion, brought out ACR Diversified Arbitrage Fund(ADANX Quote), a mutual fund that specializes in convertible and merger arbitrage. Permal, which manages $20 billion, now offers Legg Mason Permal Tactical Allocation(LPTAX Quote), a fund that follows a variety of strategies used by hedge funds, including trading currencies as well as holding stocks and bonds.