Millionaire hedge fund manager Andrew Lahde might have got it right. The man whose valediction last month to his industry peers announced that “with all due respect, I am dropping out”, left the industry while the going was still relatively good.

Admittedly, at the time of his speech, nine out of every 10 hedge funds were not able to take 20% of their profits as a performance fee, and the average hedge fund had lost about 19% of its value, reversing at least the two previous years' gains. But hedge funds face withdrawals at year end that will match or exceed third-quarter record redemptions of $31bn (€24bn), according to data provider Hedge Fund Research.