Is there a connection between the downfall of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme five years ago and the rise of alternative mutual funds since then? Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal wonders.

The WSJ notes that liquid alternative funds "have become the hottest thing in the mutual-fund business" since 2008, with a 33-percent year-to-date rise in assets to more than $244 billion (thanks in part to almost $53 billion in inflows as of September 30). The paper sees one-time hedge-fund-only shops getting into the mutual fund business as regulatory pressure from the SEC increases for their core business and as transparency and other mutual fund structure benefits give such shops a way to make their offerings "seem safe enough for everybody."

Fund lawyer Brian Daly of Schulte Roth & Zabel, Barlow Partners chief investment officer Elizabeth Hilpman, and Strategic Insight analyst Robert Martorana all weighed in for the article. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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