Un anno difficile...

...per i piccoli investitori (il Sole 24 Ore è pieno di consigli, dossier, ecc. ecc.) ma anche per molti fondi hedge.
Se ne occupa l'Economist nell'ultimo numero con un articolo giustamente critico dei risultati:
Hedge funds first disappointed investors en masse in 2008, when the average fund fell by 19%. Since then they have struggled to beat the market (see chart). This year performance has continued to be lacklustre. The hedge-fund industry needs to produce outsize returns for the rest of 2011 if it is to restore its reputation.
La volatilità delle ultime settimane sembra abbia inferto ulteriori colpi a molti fondi, compresi alcuni casi celebri:
Some long-short equity funds fell by as much as 15%. Even John Paulson, an acclaimed hedge-fund manager who made billions betting against the housing bubble, has suffered losses. His leveraged flagship fund, Advantage Plus, was down by 31% for the year on August 5th (...)
August is on track to be one of hedge funds’ worst months ever. The effects will be felt most by some of the weakest funds, many of which need a quarter or two of good performance to restore the morale of their investors and traders. Should they continue to underwhelm in the coming months, investors are likely to withdraw their money. That could force some smaller funds to be wound down.
Others will close before investors have the chance to desert them. Some funds have been hanging on since 2008, trying to claw their way back to their peaks, or “high-water marks”, at which point they can once again earn lucrative performance fees. But as many as 89% of hedge funds may have still been under their 2006 and 2007 high-water marks in June, according to PerTrac, a data aggregator. Given their high costs, most have been barely surviving on management fees from investors, which are usually around 2% of assets.

Secondo molti la cura dimagrante che l'industria subirà potrebbe avere degli aspetti positivi: la crisi del 2008 portò a una riduzione del 10% del numero di fondi, ma nell'ultimo biennio si è assistito a una ripresa e gli asset under management superano oggi i 2000 miliardi di dollari.
Nel rapporto qui sotto di HSBC Private Bank trovate le classifiche dei 20 migliori e peggiori fondi degli ultimi 3 anni.

HedgeWeekly2011_No34