Hedge Funds Up In November

December 17, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Most hedge funds showed a positive net return in November, with the average US hedge fund gaining 2.8% and the average offshore up 1.5%, according to Van Hedge Fund Advisors.

November’s best performing strategies were US Several Strategies, US Aggressive Growth and Offshore Aggressive Growth, which saw net gains of 8.6%, 5.4% and 5.0%, respectively.

Year-to-date the top performing strategies have been US Short Selling, Offshore Short Selling, and US Emerging Markets, which have seen year-to-date net gains of 24.0%, 17.2% and 12.4%, respectively.

By comparison the S&P 500 was up 5.9% in November, but down 17.2% for the year.   Likewise, the NASDAQ gained 11.2% for the month, but remains down 23.9% for the year.  

Other US gaining strategies in November include:

  • Value up 3.9% in November
  • Special Situations up 3.8% in November
  • Opportunistic up 3.1% in November
  • Fund of Funds up 2.2% in November
  • Distressed Securities up 1.9% in November

Offshore strategies saw gains as well in November, including:

  • Aggressive Growth up 5.0% in November
  • Special Situations up 2.6% in November
  • Income up 2.2% in November
  • Emerging Markets up 2.1% in November
  • Market Timing up 1.8% in November
  • Value up 1.8% in November

According to Van Hedge research, the Average US Hedge Fund has actually earned 7.8% net of fees from March 2000, when the bear market started, through November 2002. During that same period, the S&P 500 and the Average Equity Mutual Fund have produced losses of -35.2% and -32.2%, respectively, according to Van Hedge.

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