Not only do young hedge fund managers outperform their more established counterparts, as reported recently by Hedge Fund Research, but they also post far higher returns than some top indices. According to a new study by Mayer & Hoffman Capital Advisors, the so-called “emerging managers” – those in business for under two years – outdid the Morgan Stanley Capital International non-investable equal-weighted index by 45% and more than 200% ahead of the Credit Suisse/Tremont Index, The New York Times reports. Broken down by year, the 167 HF managers in the studies who launched funds in 2003 posted gains of 11.39% in 2004 compared with MSCI’s 6.55% and CS’s 5.31%. And last year, the young’uns studies rose 9.55%, compared with the MSCI’s 8.2% and Credit Suisse’s 3.6%. The reasons for their success are the familiar, such as youthful enthusiasm. But, as the study points out, enthusiasm is no guarantee of long-term success. The percentage of funds that failed during that time was 8.4%, consistent with the 8.1% for the entire industry.