> if I have a bunch of money, I can pay for expertise/management that is going to net me a higher return

Not starting with $1 million. At $10 million you have to be the shark. You need to be closer to $100 million to be able to afford the sharks the don't have their own principal to work with. Even then, you still need to know how to hire the sharks.

Source: I used to work in this market.