The hedge fund industry is at an "inflection point", according to titans in the sector, which could see the idea of "star managers" take a back seat to artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven strategies. Efficiency in markets and the wider availability of financial data has helped make it harder for hedge funds to produce returns beyond a benchmark, a new report from Aberdeen Standard Investments and trade body the Alternative Investment Managers Association (Aima) has found. As hedge funds are driven towards more quantitative techniques of investing, based on the use of algorithms and computer programming to make investment decisions, the report found that key figures at some of the world's largest hedge funds will be increasingly relying on AI and data. "There's an arms race around how asset management firms collect data and how they slice and dice it," said Blackstone's vice chair Tom Hill. But machines can take things only so far.