The sunny outlook that funds of hedge funds favored for returns earlier this year has given way to a somewhat grayer forecast. The Reuters survey of top fund of hedge fund managers representing $100 billion AUM had predicted superior returns for half of the strategies they cover for the second half of the year. Now, according to the latest survey, respondents have downgraded to "only a few" strategies, such as emerging markets, to perform well and now expect a modest 5% return, compared with 8-9% in the previous poll. The cause for the shift, according to Reuters, is the sense that the commodities bull market is running out of steam as is global growth. This doesn't mean that commodities as we know them now will soon be history. "We view the end of the long-term bull market in commodities to be still years way," Manuel Echeveria of Optimal Investment Services told Reuters, "but these markets will be less directional, more volatile and will require both long and short investment abilities." Responding to the shifting winds, says Reuters, some FoHF managers, are turning to multi-strategies in an effort to produce "consistent returns in any market cycle."