Until recently, the generally held perception was that the worst a hedge fund marketer could do is fail to raise money.  But then came the credit crisis, a raft of new regulations, a newly enlarged and invigorated SEC and a tectonic shift in the hedge fund investor base in favor of more public and private pension funds and other retirement plans.  In this fraught new operating environment, hedge fund marketers can do more than fail to benefit the fund: they can affirmatively harm the fund and manager.  In particular, marketers can, in different contexts: jeopardize fees; render ideal investors off-limits; subject a manager to complex regulatory schemes from which the manager would otherwise be exempt; and give investors the right to rescind their investments.  This article details three significant legal pitfalls that can give rise to these and other harms, and suggests ways to avoid them.