The strategy you've been locked out of, adapted for retirement money.
Hedge funds don't follow the rules a 401(k) follows. They can short stocks, use leverage, run quantitative models, hold positions a mutual fund can't. The most successful one in history, Renaissance's Medallion fund, has averaged roughly 39% per year, net of fees, since 1988.† The S&P 500 averaged about 11% over the same span.
You will never invest in Medallion. Nobody outside Renaissance has been allowed in since 1993. The other top hedge funds (Citadel, Bridgewater, Two Sigma) are technically open, but the door requires $5M+ in liquid net worth just to be considered. So the choices you've actually been offered for your 401(k) or IRA have been: index it, or hand it to a glide path. There's a third path.
Buy & Hold Indexing
~1% all-in · open to anyone
- Vanguard, Fidelity, target-date funds, traditional advisors
- Always fully invested · minimal trading · tax-efficient
- Goal: track the market via diversification
- When the market drops, your account drops with it. The plan is to wait it out.
Actively Risk Managed
~2.0–2.6% all-in · open to retirement accounts
- Portfolio Medics AMP portfolios, fee-only fiduciary
- Tactical allocation · structural ability to step toward cash · daily-trade flexibility
- Aim: manage risk across market cycles, including drawdowns
- Built for people who would pick a more aggressive posture if they had access, and don't.
Hedge Funds
2-and-20 · accredited / qualified purchaser only
- Long/short · leverage · derivatives · quant models · market-neutral
- Decades of strategies built to make money when indexing can't
- Goal: returns independent of market direction
- Closed to you. Typically requires $5M+ liquid net worth and qualified-purchaser status.
† Renaissance Medallion average annual return of approximately 39% net of fees, 1988 to 2018, documented in SEC filings and academic analysis (Cornell, B., “Medallion Fund: The Ultimate Counterexample?” Journal of Portfolio Management, 2020). Cited to illustrate the strategy class, not as a claim about Fireweed Capital, Portfolio Medics, or any return Fireweed clients should expect. Hedge-fund 2-and-20 fee structure per Preqin / SEC adviser brochure database.
See if it fits your portfolio.
A 30-minute virtual meeting with Dr. Adam Link, CFP®. We'll look at where your retirement money is today, what you're trying to do with it, and whether active risk management actually makes sense for your situation. If it doesn't, we'll tell you.
Pick a 30-minute slot
Pick anything that works. Virtual meeting by default; phone available on request once you're booked.
Dr. Adam Link, CFP® · Fireweed Capital · Fee-only fiduciary
Doctorate in Computer Science · Minnesota-based, serves clients statewide via virtual meeting
Advisory services through Portfolio Medics, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Fireweed Capital is the brand under which Dr. Adam Link offers advisory services and operates as an insurance agency. Advisory fees through Portfolio Medics are approximately 2.0 to 2.6% per year on assets under management, billed quarterly. The 30-minute consultation itself is free. Higher fees do not guarantee better performance and reduce client returns. Nothing on this page is investment, tax, or legal advice; it's an invitation to a consultation. Past performance does not guarantee future results. No investment strategy guarantees protection from loss. Renaissance Medallion is referenced solely to illustrate the strategy class hedge funds operate in; Medallion has been closed to outside investors since 1993, and citing its returns is not a representation of any return Fireweed clients should expect.
Reviewed: 2026-05-08 · Status: PENDING_REVIEW · Hash: 2026-05/PENDING-MARKETING-REWRITE