Hello, Hedge Funds

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Hedge-fund manager James Chanos of Kynikos Associates started a Washington-based trade group this year and so far has 18 fund managers onboard. He has testified before Congress and has been trying to explain that the issues the legislators are raising also apply to other financial players, like the trading desks of big banks, which are essentially internal hedge funds. The message is that taking hedge funds as shorthand for all high-risk investments is failing to see the larger picture. "The business is just too big and too high profile for Washington to ignore anymore," he says. "You have to get a seat at the table"--the grownups' table.