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<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n The story illustrates that a talented and nimble manager can keep a step ahead of the market. Investors insist these individuals can still be found, but there is little sign the average hedge fund manager showed such skill in 2006. The average long\/short equity fund failed to get out of the market before it fell in May and then missed out on the bounce. The average global macro fund mistimed rises in interest rates and underestimated the fall in the dollar.<\/span><\/p>\n That said, the average hedge fund was up between 10% and 11% for the first 11 months, according to a variety of data providers. Hennessee<\/a> said funds in its database were up 10.06% while HedgeFundNet<\/a> reported 10.65% and the Barclay Group<\/a> 10.75%. Managers said, barring accidents, they expected the hedge fund indices to finish the year in double digits.<\/span><\/p>\n It would be the best performance for three years \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 the indices struggled to reach 8% in 2004 and last year \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 but it would be lower than the main equity indices, with the S&P 500<\/a> up 14.2% for the first 11 months.<\/span><\/p>\n