High water marks still haunt hedge funds

Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Author: Reuters

Hedge funds have rallied from last year’s stunning losses, yet hundreds of managers remain deep in the hole and face some tough decisions in the coming weeks.

The fund industry suffered one of its worst years ever in 2008, when the average hedge fund fell by 19 percent amid tumbling markets exacerbated by record withdrawals.

Yet even as managers quickly mounted a comeback — the average fund rose 17 percent over nine months — roughly 10 percent of the industry’s 8,000 hedge funds may remain deep in the hole by year-end.