Druckenmiller returns after four-month absence.

After leaving Soros Fund Management in April, Stanley Druckenmiller is returning to the arena that made him famous -- this time at Duquesne Capital, a money management business he's been running since 1981.

Stanley Shopkorn, former chief equity manager of Moore Capital, has joined Druckenmiller

"To build something on your own is emotionally gratifying and this is what they do best," says Sol Waksman, president of Barclay Trading Group. "Also, smaller funds allow managers to be more nimble in their investments."

Heavy numbers Poor performance and choppy markets this year led to some soul searching at the Managed Funds Association Forum 2000, held in Chicago in July. This was evident in a session on the evolution of managed futures led by three industry leaders.

Keith Campbell, chairman of Campbell & Co. Inc.; Peter Borish, president of Computer Trading Corp.; and Verne Sedlacek, president and chief operating officer of John W. Henry & Co., agreed managers and investors must adapt to changes or risk being left behind.

"There's a negative attitude right now because of the lack of performance in the industry," Campbell said. "Change equals opportunity and change drives the markets. This is just a transition period."

According to Borish, investors will change their strategy once they grow tired of taking hits in the stock market by looking to managed futures to provide the diversification they need. "We won't see a major index up as much as the Nasdaq was last year in our lifetime," Borish said. "Volatility and high price levels usually signal a change in the trend."

Although many managers are hurting this year, it's not stopping mutual fund managers from going to hedge funds.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this year as many as 15 mutual fund managers have left to manage hedge funds. As a result, companies including the Bank of New York Co. Inc., Deutsche Asset Management UK and Montgomery Asset Management have decided to offer hedge funds or hedge fund-like mutual funds in an attempt to keep managers.

"Most money managers, who leave mutual funds to manage their own hedge funds are entrepreneurial by' nature," says Rick Lake of Greenwich, Conn.-based Lake Partners. "They [will] have more freedom."