Index-based investing is the future for hedge funds investors, a prominent hedge fund indexing firm says.

The Credit Suisse Index Co. notes that passive strategies have become de rigueur in the world of traditional asset management, "and the same will hold true in the hedge fund market."

According to a new industry white paper produced by CS Index, hedge fund indexation is cost efficient and transparent, and solves many of the problems facing hedge fund investors and prospective hedge fund investors: "diminished alpha opportunities, complexity, cost efficiency, diversification, transparency and simplified reporting."

Unlike direct hedge fund investing, index-based portfolios do not require "a significant resource and time commitment" to find top managers, nor do they add an additional layer of fees to find them, as funds of hedge funds do. Plus, according to the report, "only a handful of the largest fund of hedge funds outperformed the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index for the three-year period ended December 2006."