“Oldies need not apply,” seems like a fitting sign to hang on the door of Hedge Funds Investment Management. The new London-based fund of hedge funds is touting itself as a youth-oriented firm in that it will invest only in hedgies that have been working in the industry for less than 3-1/2 years. Explains Tushar Patel, formerly of GAIM Advisors and co-founder of HFIM, in a Reuters interview, “The emerging hedge fund sector remains largely overlooked yet offers some outstanding opportunities to invest in new hedge fund investment approaches, strategies, markets and instruments.” HFIM -- which is set to launch its inaugural offering, HFIM Multi-Strategy Fund, next month -- hopes to capitalize on its fresh-blood strategy as it appeals to institutional investors that may not be exposed to them through other funds of hedge funds. The 3-1/2-year cutoff for qualified HF managers appears to be based partly on data from Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research that says hedge funds in their first year of operation returned an average of 11.96%, while those in business for four years or longer averaged only 9.6%. In addition, says Reuters, scholarly papers support the notion that young hedge fund managers, armed with new ideas and enthusiasm, work harder to make their mark in the industry and to attract clients. What’s more, emerging managers have a big incentive for performing well: They put a lot of their own money into their firms.