Hedge funds in June demonstrated their ability to protect from the downside, albeit with wide dispersion as shown in the monthly performance figures reported thus far. Commodity and CTA firms did particularly well for the month, while distressed and technology long/short equity funds both gave up gains.
Preliminary data indicate that the Absolute Return Composite Index was up slightly in June, at 0.19%. That compares to an 8.6% decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a 0.08% loss for the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index.
In this year’s first half, the AR Composite climbed 1.79%. In comparison, the S&P 500 gave up 12.84% and the Lehman Index rose 1.13%. Tight net exposure helped funds preserve capital.
Overall, commodity firms turned in the biggest gains, rising 5.06% for the month to put them up 13.35% for the year. CTAs...