In America three-quarters of onshore hedge funds have offshore clones, mainly because hedge funds with foreign investors, who are not required to pay taxes on their hedge-fund investments in America, would still need to file America's unwieldy tax returns if they invested onshore.

ECONOMIST: Moving pieces

These lessons apply to offshore funds as much as they do to U.S. funds.

FORBES: Winning streak

One question: Which ranking service of offshore funds have you found to be reliable?

FORBES: Readers Say