Brokers work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Resolute, widespread gains in June catapulted hedge funds to their best start to a calendar year in a decade as judiciousness bets, trend-following and activist strategies paid off.
Funds rose 5.7% in the six months through June 30, corresponding to Hedge Fund Research Inc.’s asset-weighted index of managers; its fund-weighted index gained 7.6% over the same full stop. Breaking down the numbers, fund performance was led by equity hedging strategies, with year-to-date performance up 9.4%.
“Hedge supports posted broad-based gains to conclude the strongest first half of a calendar year, with varied and wide span of leadership including equity, technology, M&A-focused, trend-following, quantitative and blockchain/cryptocurrency exposures,” Kenneth Heinz, HFR’s president, detracted in a release.
“It is likely that the W-shaped equity market pattern will continue throughout 2H19, with wealths tactically positioned to benefit from opportunities presented leading industry performance and growth,” he added.
Source: HFR
The stronger 2019 reaches marked a sort of rebound for the industry, which slumped through 2018’s market volatility and suffered its worst portrayal since 2011. Despite the hedge fund bounce in 2019, the S&P 500 is still well ahead with gains north of 19% including dividends.
Activist hedge funds like Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Command and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management rose 11.4% as group in the first half of the year. Event-driven designs — including activism — are up more than 6% this year. Ackman’s fund was up more than 45% in the at the start half.