Sure, but (by most metrics) hedge funds are going to be riskier/more volatile and you have to lock up your money for longer. So the same return would count as worse performance if placed in hedge fund (and that's not even accounting for differences in expenses yet).

Hedge funds as a group are only risky and volatile compared to mutual funds. Their degree of riskiness varies tremendously, and there are a great number of them that would offering investment management that is tremendously less risky than an index fund.