Who Charges More: Hedge Funds or Mutual Funds?

Mark Kritzman
Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. 2008.
Vol. 20, no. 1.

Typical mutual fund fees appear far lower than hedge fund fees. However, a very high percentage of mutual fund performance is due to passive exposure to the market. An example shows that combining an index fund and hedge fund can replicate the returns of a mutual fund at a similar cost, implying that the implicit fee for the mutual fund's small active component is comparable to a hedge fund.