Mid-Year Hedge Fund Review

Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009
Author: Absolute Return

According to the Absolute Return database, in the first half of the year, hedge funds continued to generate strong returns, up an estimated 6.33% this year. June was generally a flat month, up an estimated .40%, with about 43% of reporting funds. This year’s gain is in sharp contrast to 2008, when hedge funds lost an average of 12%.

On the back of tightening credit markets and a sentiment that the economy – and the housing market in particular – may be stabilizing, the Absolute Return Mortgage-Backed Securities Index gained an estimated 4.61% in June, up 10.31% for the year so far.

Convertible arbitrage is also reporting its best results ever, gaining about 2% for the month for a year-to-date total of 21%. MBS and convertible bonds were decimated by the financial crisis last year.

Long/short equity funds continue to perform in line with the broader markets. The Absolute Return U.S. Equity Index gained only an estimated .08% in June for a total of 6.24% for the year so far.

The Global Equity, Managed Futures and Commodities Indices were all down in June and Managed Futures is the only strategy down on the year, -1.30% YTD estimated.

http://www.hedgefundintelligence.com/ar/Indices.aspx

		May 09	Jun 09	YTD
Index	Inception	Return	Return		Return
Absolute Return Composite	Jan 98	2.88%	0.40%*		6.30%*
Arbitrage	Jan 98	1.16%	1.28%*		5.98%*
Commodities	Jan 98	2.58%	-1.13%*		-0.03%*
Convertible & Equity Arbitrage	Jan 98	3.87%	2.08%*		21.09%*
Credit	Jan 98	3.03%	1.74%*		9.03%*
Distressed	Jan 98	4.19%	1.90%*		10.75%*
Event Driven	Jan 98	2.98%	1.30%*		10.07%*
Global Equity	Jan 98	4.00%	-0.66%*		7.37%*
Latin American Debt	Jan 00	3.68%	1.02%*		10.28%*
Latin American Equity	Jan 00	3.41%	0.77%*		12.95%*
Macro	Jan 98	2.15%	0.00%*		2.30%*
Managed Futures	Jan 98	1.97%	-0.59%*		-1.30%*
Mortgage Backed Securities	Jan 98	1.78%	4.61%*		10.31%*
Multi-Strategy	Jan 98	2.73%	1.35%*		8.60%*
Technology	Jan 98	3.28%	0.56%*		9.91%*
U.S. Equity	Jan 98	2.98%	0.08%*		6.24%*

About Absolute Return

Absolute Return is the leading source of U.S. hedge fund news and information, featuring proprietary data and analysis on more than 2,500 U.S. single-manager hedge funds. Absolute Return, a monthly magazine, and the Absolute Return Directory and Database are divisions of HedgeFund Intelligence, a global provider of hedge fund news and data. For more information, please visit www.hedgefundintelligence.com/ar/.