Pensions & Investment- Hedge fund performance in the first quarter was positive, beating most of the major market indexes, with average fund performance of 2.1%, according to data from Morningstar Inc.<\/p>\n
Managers that report their performance to Morningstar\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s database looked great compared with the 2.06% return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe Australasia Far East index for the quarter ended March 31. The Russell 2000 index returned 1.95%; Lehman Brothers Intermediate Government\/Corporate Bond index, 1.59%; Russell 3000 index, 1.28%; and Standard & Poor\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s 500, 0.64%.<\/p>\n
Morningstar\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s hedge fund database tracks about 4,100 hedge funds with assets of $1 trillion and 2,000 hedge funds of funds with $500 billion in assets, said Ryan Tagal, director, hedge funds and alternative investments.<\/p>\n
Morningstar\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s aggregate data shows that the emerging markets category was the best performer in the quarter with an average total return of 5.07%. Other Morningstar fund categories with good net average performance relative to market indexes included distressed companies; 4.13%; convertible arbitrage, 3.89%; corporate event driven, 3.52%; equity variable funds, 2.89%; fund of funds, 2.78%; merger arbitrage, 2.73%; and equity net long exposure, 2.47%.<\/p>\n
These strategies are well-represented among the 25 best performing hedge funds (with assets of at least $100 million) for the quarter in Morningstar\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s database.<\/p>\n