In concept, it sounds like a good idea: Get brokers to share their best investment recommendations and then invest with them. Somewhere along the way, however, the system that Marshall Wace invested in had too many kinks to make it successful, and its US Tops Fund, which began life with $1 billion AUM, is a shadow of its former self. Marshall Wace Chairman Paul Marshall told Financial News that following client withdrawals and a return of capital to investors, the fund now has approximately $500 million in assets. The problem, reports FN, was that brokers in the U.S. didn’t just give the London-based hedge fund manager their best ideas, it gave them the works. And because of that Tops did not work out as planned. One investor said in an FN interview that, “The mindset of the U.S. salesmen was against them. Marshall Wace has had to spend time getting contributors up to speed on what the system is about.” According to FN, the firm isn’t giving up. It has attracted about a half billion dollars for Tops-Asia and is looking to rollout a global version as well later this year. FN says some criticized the fund because it encouraged brokers to share inside information as they jockeyed for attention, but Marshall denies that was the case.