The decline in proprietary investments would most likely lead to the same funds then being employed towards gradually reducing liabilities (debt), making the company leaner.

FORBES: State Street Stock Set To Surge To $57

Board members, mayors, labor lawyers employed by the funds, independent consultants and others met with us regarding consultant abuses in cities such as Hallandale Beach and Sunrise.

FORBES: The Long Overdue Florida Public Pension Clean-Up (November 21, 2007 )

Narayan Naik at the London Business School says that there is only a limited number of market inefficiencies that can be exploited through the various strategies employed by the funds.

ECONOMIST: Hedge funds

As mayor of Wasilla, a metropolis of 9, 000 people, she initiated annual trips to Washington, DC, to ask for more earmarks from the state's congressional delegation, and employed Washington lobbyists to press for more funds for her town.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

For years, hedge funds borrowed money in Japan at next to nothing and employed the capital in the fixed-income sector here.

FORBES: Managing Money