Hedge funds are ready to set records this year, but not necessarily the good kind.

“The bubble has popped and there is going to be a lot of pain,” said Bradley Alford, the founder of hedge fund advisory firm Alpha Capital Management. “There will be a massive reassessment of where money should go.”

Many investors expect the $1.8 trillion industry’s estimated 10,000 funds to be winnowed down by a few thousand in a few years. Funds that oversaw nearly $4 billion in assets have already closed their doors in the first quarter of 2008.

Amid the turbulence, top executives in Singapore, Hong Kong, London and New York are taking part in the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit this week.

Speakers include:

• Michael Travaglini, Executive Director, Massachusetts State Pension Fund
• Bruce Richards, President and CEO, Marathon Asset Management
• Rep. Richard Baker, President and CEO, Managed Funds Association
• Jane Buchan, CEO, Pacific Alternative Asset Management
• Peter Fitzsimmons, Co-President, AlixPartners
• David Balin, Head of Alternative Investments, Bank of America
• Tanya Beder, Chairman, SBCC Group; former CEO, Citigroup’s Tribeca Global Management LLC
• Mark Epley, Head of Financial Sponsors Group, Deutsche Bank
• Patrick Egan, CEO, Attalus Capital Management

A few of the stories so far:

• Hedge funds suffering painful start to year
• Hedge fund deleveraging over for now: HSBC Halbis
• KGR weighs new fund, offering to boost assets
• 3i ramps up team to support growth in Asia

(Photo: A performer runs inside a bubble during Uzbekistan’s Independence Day celebrations)