Spheres of influence

There's nothing like a poorly performing market to bring about a change of heart. When a bull market is raging, everyone is happy; people feel they are more or less on the right track. Enter the downturn, though, and everything changes. Just ask a few internet stocks.With that in mind, perhaps the rapid rise in the use of hedge funds in the UK's institutional investor portfolios over the last year or so should really come as little surprise. Hedge funds hold out the tantalizing carrot of rising