Hedge Funds Up As Equities Continue To Work

On average, hedge funds were up 2.44% July and 11.89% for the first seven months of the year according to data from HedgeFund.net (see hedgeweek article). This was the best seven month performance data since 1999, driven in part by the rising equity markets and near record performance in directional fixed income. Convertible arbitrage returned 6% in July and is the best strategy year to date, while managed futures have lagged equity-based strategies. Nonetheless, even with the current out-performance, 54% of funds are still below January 2008 levels.