This isn't an anecdotal fallacy, because those returns are empirically demonstrable and proven. Moreover, I agree that investing in hedge funds is bad in genera

This isn't an anecdotal fallacy, because those returns are empirically demonstrable and proven. Moreover, I agree that investing in hedge funds is bad in general - I've never claimed otherwise. My position in this thread and others like it is simply that a fair number of hedge funds do consistently beat the market even if they represent a small minority of the overall industry. I'm also not establishing a conspiracy here. There's nothing underground or invisible about this industry, and I've worked in it peripherally myself. It's only under the radar in the sense that most Americans can name the president but not most other high ranking members of the cabinet: the spotlight is not on them. If you go digging, you'll find them. They just don't typically attract the same attention firms like Bridgewater do because they don't typically seek more capital for its own sake just to spin off more funds.