Brad,

I'm not sure which DB pension funds actually invested in hedge funds before 2002 (CalPERS themselves didn't make their first investment until then despite the announcement in '99).

A better data set for the period might come from an E&F universe, who were early institutional adopters. Cambridge Associates might be one such source if you are curious.

Before dismissing a broad investment area willy nilly, I'd suggest diving in and getting to know what's underneath the surface. The conclusion I have come to after doing this work across asset classes for a long time is that the best and brightest spend their time where the compensation is best, and today in the public markets, that's clearly in the hedge fund universe.