Calling any hedge fund "high performing" is pretty meaningless, as once they've figured out their core trade their main job is to 1) keep the core trade secret,

Calling any hedge fund "high performing" is pretty meaningless, as once they've figured out their core trade their main job is to 1) keep the core trade secret, 2) try to find some other bet, 3) try to trade bigger/faster/stronger, in that order. They're just big poker players and so looking like they're the smartest in the room is part of the bluff. Secrecy is way more important but that doesn't require PhDs. This is why they're so culty, use various personality tests in hiring, and things like the rube goldberg 360 rating disaster described above. A simpler example is Jane Street who went hard into OCAML for no reason whatsoever that had to do with their bottom line but made them look "smart" while money machine goes brrr.