> The fact that hedge fund managers live from the fees tells what they really think about their skills. Never gamble using your own money.

Most hedge funds don't gamble, but some do have poor risk management (e.g. Melvin Capital).

The proposition of a hedge fund is actually very compelling to institutional money: range-bound returns in any type of market environment. This proposition bodes very well for say major pension funds that want to avoid market risk while also modeling out return + pension liabilities at an assumed rate of return.