Breakingviews | Hedge funds

Considered view

09 Jul 2008 19:49

Hedge trimming

Context News

The average hedge fund made a loss of 0.75% after fees in the first half of 2008, according to Hedge Fund Research. The worst-performing strategies included convertible bond arbitrage and those rooted in Asian markets, while the best included some macro strategies and short-biased equity funds.

The loss was the weakest first-half performance since at least 1990, but funds have had worse second-half returns, according to HFR.

The S&P 500 index of US stocks fell about 13% in the first half of 2008.

The average hedge fund lost 0.75% in the first half of the year. For investors paying stiff fees for steady returns, that’s a disappointment. In reality, though, plenty of funds track market performance to some extent. Against the S&P 500, say, hedge funds didn’t do badly.

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