Critics of the industry who cite increasing correlations between hedge fund returns and overall equity markets during the recent bull market will be upset to see they actually appear to be what their name implies – hedged.
In January eVestment’s aggregate hedge fund performance measure was down 0.56% for the month. Market neutral equity strategies were up 0.22% and long/short strategies were down 0.28%.
The S&P 500 returned -3.46%, while the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. was down more than 4.5%.
Top returns by primary strategy were: relative-value credit funds (0.71%), convertible arbitrage (0.64%) and event-driven activist funds (0.31%).
