Van: Hedge Fund Returns Keep Climbing

February’s gain was the 12^thstraight month the Index has ended the month in positive territory, according to data released by hedge fund consulting group Van Hedge Fund Advisors International, LLC.  Compared to the broader markets, February’s return figure based on over 800 hedge fund returns was slightly behind the 1.4% gain posted by the S&P 500 and ahead of the Nasdaq’s 1.7% drop for the month.

Year-to-date the Index has gained 3.2% net of fees, in line with the S&P 500’s 3.3% return.   Earlier this month, Van forecast a 1.4% return for the Global Hedge Fund Index based on the returns of over 300 funds (See  Hedge Funds Up 1.4% in February ).   Final February returns are still not computed and will be available at the end of March on  www.hedgefund.com .

Among individual strategies tracked by Van, Futures funds performed best by far, averaging a 6.8% net return. Another strong performance was turned in by Emerging Markets, posting a 3.6% net gain, bringing its year-to-date return to 6.5% net.   Notably, Short Selling had its first winning month since last September, gaining 0.3% net.

Van Global Hedge Fund Index climbed to a preliminary value of 10,982.76 at the end of February.   Since its inception in 1988 the Index has produced a compound annualized return of 16% net, according to Van.