Hedge Funds Down 0.2% for Year: S&P

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)–Hedge fund performance slipped into negative territory for the year, according to Standard & Poor’s Hedge Fund Index, which fell 0.54% in July and is down 0.2% year-to-date through July.

The S&P Arbitrage Index was the only category to have positive performance in July with a return of 0.51% and 1.18% for the year. S&P’s Arbitrage Index contains convertible arbitrage, equity market neutral and fixed-income arb strategies.

The S&P Event Driven Index returned negative 0.75% in July and positive 1.26% year-to-date. The Event Driven Index includes merger arbitrage, distressed securities and special situations strategies.

The S&P Directional/Tactical Index was the worst performing sub-category in the broader index with a return of negative 1.41%, bringing its return for the first seven months of 2004 to negative 3.05%. That category includes global macro, long/short equity and futures strategies, the last two of which had a particularly bad month, according to S&P.