High Yield Tops January Hedge Fund "Class"

February 11, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - While major US stock indices continued to struggle, hedge funds eked out a 0.72% gain in January, according to the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index.

The best performing return was from the High Yield index, which gained 3.24%, while the Convertible Arbitrage Index, with a positive return of 2.51%, came in in second place during the month.

The 2.38% return posted by event-driven hedge fund managers was good for third place.   Contributing to the performance were successful distressed and high yield spreads.

On the other hand, short-biased hedge funds posted a negative 1.54% return, the worst performing strategy for the month.   According to Hennessee, the rally in the beginning of the year caused many short sellers to abandon their shorts, leaving them out of the market during the sell off late in January.

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