The HFRI Fund-Weighted Composite index also gained an estimated 0.4% in April, led by macro and equity strategies.
All told, almost half of hedge funds posted positive performance in April.
Uncorrelated macro ranked as the top-performing strategy for the month, led by fundamental, discretionary macro strategies and complemented by quantitative, trend-following commodity trading adviser strategies.
The investible HFRI 500 Macro index gained 1.2% in the month, while the investible HFRI 400 (U.S.) Macro index rose an estimated 0.7%.
The HFRI 500 Trend Following index rose 1.6% in April, while the HFRI 500 Macro-Discretionary Thematic index inched up 0.3%.
Equity hedge funds, which invest long and short across specialized substrategies, also advanced in April, driven by health care and energy substrategies, as volatility surged across the financial sector.
The HFRI Equity Hedge (Total) index gained an estimated 0.4%, while the investible HFRI 400 (U.S.) Equity Hedge index edged up 0.1% in the month.
An HFR spokesman said in an email that some return data are estimates because "some of these figures may change slightly as we move further into the month and more funds report to the HFR database."
Equity hedge substrategy gains were led by the HFRI EH-Healthcare index, which jumped 3.9% in April, while the HFRI EH-Energy/Basic Materials index gained 1.5%.
Through the first four months of the year, the HFRI 500 Equity Hedge index has gained 2.3%, making it the top-performing primary strategy.
Event-driven strategies, which often focus on out-of-favor, deep-value equity exposures and speculation on M&A situations, also advanced in April as risk in the financials sector deepened. The investible HFRI 400 (U.S.) Event-Driven index gained an estimated 0.2%, while the HFRI Event-Driven (Total) index also gained an estimated 0.2%.
Event-driven substrategy performance was led by the HFRI ED-Special Situations index, which gained an estimated 1.2%, while the HFRI ED-Credit Arbitrage index rose 0.5%.
Fixed income-based, interest rate-sensitive strategies also recorded gains in April, as the Federal Reserve prepared to hike interest rates and regional bank risks intensified.
The HFRI 500 Relative Value index gained an estimated 0.1% for the month, while the HFRI Relative Value (Total) index edged up an estimated 0.25%.
Leading substrategy performance, the HFRI RV-Yield Alternatives index advanced 1.4% in April, while the HFRI RV-Fixed Income-Asset Backed index gained 0.8%.
"Hedge fund managers have continued to navigate the surge in bank and financial risk volatility, with historic dislocations, chaotic, frenzied trading and structural uncertainty conditions unlike anything since 2008, or possibly even prior to that," said Kenneth J. Heinz, president of HFR, in the report. "Managers posted gains in April across a range of equity, credit and trading-oriented strategies as weakness and risk concentrated in regional banks dominated financial market conditions, culminating with the closure and sale of First Republic Bank."
Mr. Heinz added: "Financial risk has accelerated into May, with managers positioning opportunistically for additional structural dislocations and fluid developments within the regional bank trading environment or more broadly, positioning through the record rate of interest rate increases, possibly peaking inflation, and uncertainty with regard to U.S. and global economic growth in 2023."
