Your research is sound and I agree with the bottom line but, in the interest of transparency, that's not a fair comparison. "Top fund managers" are working wit

Your research is sound and I agree with the bottom line but, in the interest of transparency, that's not a fair comparison. "Top fund managers" are working with billions in AUM. If you have found meaningful alpha on a portfolio of $100k - $10M (or a section of capital within that range), you will have an easier time capitalizing on that strategy than a fund manager who needs to figure out how to scale a profitable strategy to billions in assets. Difficulty in getting orders filled on one end and literally moving the price on the other are two big reasons it's far easier to find profitable strategies on relatively smaller portfolios. It's not just a comparison of the tools and skills used in institutional funds. The amount of money they are working with is an obstacle in of itself. This is also why, incidentally, the most successful hedge funds in the world typically close their doors to outside capital and cap it at, say $10B or so.