How do the hedge funds talking heads make their wealth from fees on pension funds?

I suppose you are referring to global hedge funds here. Normally, pension funds used to invest in debt but with most global debt giving negative yields, they rely on equities. But pension funds do not have expertise in equities. So hedge funds structure limited risk/return products and manage the risk for a fee. Many of the pension funds also invest in hedge funds as a means of earning alpha to be able to pay sufficient pensions to retirees.