An investor advisory group levelled fresh criticism at the high fees imposed by hedge funds and urged them to cut their take of gains on the assets they manage.
The latest attack on an industry known for its high charges and billionaire managers coincided with more poor returns from the flagship fund of hedge fund manager Man Group.
According to this year's Sunday Times Rich List, the top 10 hedge fund managers added £972 million to their fortunes last year, despite a poor year for the industry in general with the average fund down more than 5% - the second year in four that funds have finished in the red.
Earlier this year a new book 'The Hedge Fund Mirage' by fund manager Simon Lack claimed managers themselves had pocketed 84% of returns delivered by funds from 1998-2010.
This prompted a swift rebuttal from the industry, which has long sought to defend fees that have turned many managers into multi-millionaries.
Research commissioned by KPMG and hedge fund industry body the Alternative Investment Management Association said investors' share of annual profits between 1994 and 2011 was 71.9%.
So-called "alpha" is the performance generated above that of the market - for example, the returns a UK equity manager produces above those of the FTSE 100 index.
Pressure on fees has grown since the 2008 crisis as more and more institutional money - much of which is invested in large chunks and locked away for years - has flowed into the industry.
Last month the Axiom UCITS Alternative Investable Index Fund, which invests in an index of EU-regulated hedge funds, said it has dropped its 1% management fee and replaced it with a 10% performance fee in a bid to win back hedge fund investors driven away by the financial crisis.
