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From Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

The Australian Fund Monitor (AFM) released last week its “March Absolute Return and Hedge Fund Review” report which showed that the strong rebound in equity markets both in Australia and overseas saw equity-based hedge funds managed in the region post not only their best returns this year, but for the past three years.

AFM took the results of all funds – including non-equity strategies such as Global Macro and Commodities, and including funds of funds, and found that all had posted the best result in March since the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007.

With the ASX posting an impressive rebound in March of over 7%, which continued in April, equity-based hedge funds (with 85% of funds results reported) returned 3.18%. Over the past 12 months, equity-based hedge funds returned a negative 13.20%, against the ASX 200 which lost 33.11% and the S&P500 which fell 39.68%.

Cumulative performance On a cumulative basis, hedge funds showed their defensive nature in troubled markets, and the report said that AFM’s index of all funds showed a return of 48% since January 2004, while the ASX200 had returned 9.6%. During the bull market phase from January 2004 to November 2007 the ASX200 outperformed, returning a cumulative 106% while the hedge fund sector only returned 80%. However since November 2007 AFM’s Hedge Fund Index monthly performance has outperformed the ASX on......................

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