https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund#Etymology
"Early hedge funds sought to hedge specific investments against general market fluctuations by shorting the market, hence the name.
Nowadays, however, many different investment strategies are used, many of which do not "hedge" risk."
They're still not generally designed to beat the S&P 500, always.
They are called “hedge funds” because, as opposed to other stock funds they were allowed to take short positions while mutual funds could not, and so they could hedge some of their risk.
Not possible. Even the greatest mutual fund manager in the history of the world, Warren Buffet, has beat the market only 39 out of 58 years.