Australian hedge funds returns increased for the seventh consecutive month in September, delivering an average return of 2.34 per cent as stocks gained worldwide, Australian Fund Monitors (AFM) has said.
Hedge funds have returned 6.17 per cent for the 12 months to September, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index's 3.10 per cent gain in the same period.
"September performance reports for many managers had a familiar ring to them however, with concerns over the extent of the market's rise since March, albeit from an oversold position," AFM chief executive Chris Gosselin said.
"As a result, the more risk averse were happy to take some risk off the table in September, only to see their performance suffer as the market continued on its merry way.
"October of course has seen the ASX rally falter, and although it is too early to tell, maybe the managers who judged September as the time to de-risk will now be proven correct."
The top two single manager hedge funds in September were equity/long short strategies Naos Small Companies and Cadence Capital, which returned 19.84 per cent and 12.86 per cent.
But over the 12 months to September, equity long/short, volatility and long only strategies were among the top performers.
The Naos Small Companies Fund, Pengana Global Volatility Fund (Class A Shares) and Baker Steel Gold Fund jumped 69.42 per cent, 52.02 per cent and 47.24 per cent over the year.
The Zone Capital Trading Trust 1 and Aspect Futures advanced 12.83 per cent and 11.01 per cent respectively in the year to September, topping performances among peers in the managed futures category.
Among fund of hedge funds (FOHF), the Access SRA Fund - SRA 16 Portfolio and Access SRA Fund - SRA 9 Portfolio were the top two performers, surging 24.03 per cent and 13.94 per cent in the 12 months to September 2009.
FOHFs HFA Diversified Investments Fund (Wholesale) and GMO Multi Strategy Trust lost 5.27 per cent and 4.15 per cent respectively over the period.
AFM covers 220 hedge funds.
