US hedge funds and investors on Tuesday joined a global effort to fend off draconian regulation of the industry’s activities by setting forth a set of “best practice” guidelines that ask asset managers and investors to adopt measures aimed at reducing systemic risk.

The recommendations, issued on Tuesday by two separate committees formed under the President’s Working Group for Financial Markets, call for hedge funds to improve disclosure and risk management. Investors and those with fiduciary responsibilities are told to think more carefully about how appropriate hedge funds are for their portfolios.