According to a report from Preqin, Hedge Funds have returned +4.87% YTD in 2017. This gain represents the highest H1 performance since the first half of 2009, when they gained +16.94%. While it may be the best half year in nearly a decade for Hedge Funds, the +4.78% gain is less than half of the S&P 500’s YTD return of +10.5%. If you add on another half year, Hedge Funds still under performed the S&P. In the past twelve months, they’re up +10.91%, trailing the S&P which has returned +14.44%. Since 2010, the 12-month annualized return for the S&P 500 has consistently been higher than the $3 trillion industry of Hedge Funds.
Top Performers
While Hedge Funds as a group are up +10.91% in the last twelve months, certain Hedge Funds have had remarkable individual performance. Silver 8 Partners was up a whopping +269.06% in the twelve months to the end of June 2017. The second best fund over the same time, Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund, returned +149.09%. Third best, Loyola Capital Partners, had a +127.14% gain. While these funds represent the creme of the crop for Hedge Funds, their returns are actually rather similar to the creme of the crop in the S&P 500. The top stock from the index over the past year is Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), up +208.48%, followed by Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) up +140.70% and +114.19% respectively.
