Hedge Funds Make Meager Gains in September: S&P Index Returns

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)–Returns for the S&P Hedge Fund Index are still better than those of the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index for the year through Sept. 30.

In September, hedge funds gained 0.47%, according to Standard & Poor’s. The leading strategy was managed futures. The S&P Managed Futures Index was up 4.02% in September besting the S&P 500, which gained only 0.94% over the same time period.

The S&P Equity Long/Short Index finished the month up 1.67%. Like the managed futures index, the long/short equity category is an expanded version of what’s represented in the main S&P Hedge Fund Index with additional constituents to ensure broad representation of the market.

The composite hedge fund index currently has 40 constituents grouped into three sub-indexes: S&P Arbitrage; S&P Event-Driven and S&P Directional/Tactical. In turn the sub-indexes represent another nine hedge fund strategies ranging from market neutral to macro.

The S&P Directional/Tactical Index was up 0.60% in September but has yet to make up a 2.52% deficit for the year-to-date. Strategies in this sub-index are: futures, global macro and long/short equity.