A funny thing happened to hedge funds on the way to their predicted demise: It hasn't happened. According to predictions by some big-name financial firms and folks, the hedge fund industry should be on its last legs by now. Performance may not be what it once was, but that hasn't stopped the flood of money still pouring into the funds. Bloomberg News columnist Matthew Lynn says the HF reality has so far proved wrong – at least for now – the likes of George Soros and PIMCO's Bill Gross, who forecast trying times for hedge funds. Lynn suggests "there may be a touch of jealousy in some of the remarks," noting that "nothing else in the financial universe has splattered so much egg on so many distinguished faces excepted perhaps the technology-stock crash that started in 2000 and lasted more than two years." But something else is keeping the hedge fund industry vigorous: The fact that investors want to do better than just match benchmarks – and they don't mind paying for the price for the privilege. "The bubble may burst one day," concedes Lynn, but, "It is a long way off. Ignore predictions of a hedge fund demise. The industry has a lot of growth left in it yet."