Japan Hedge Funds Have Best Four-Month Return Since 2004, Eurekahedge Says

Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Author: Bloomberg

Japanese hedge funds, the world’s worst performers last year, returned 6.7 percent in the first four months of 2010, the best year-to-April return in six years, according to Eurekahedge Pte.

The Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index, which tracks 91 funds, gained 2.5 percent last month the Singapore-based research firm said in a preliminary report on its Web site.

Japan-focused managers are making a comeback after their 6.9 percent return last year lagged behind the global average by about a third, according to Eurekahedge. The Japan index’s gain beat the Nikkei 225 Stock Average’s 4.8 percent advance in the four-month period.

The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, which measures the performance of more than 2,000 funds worldwide, climbed 1.2 percent in April, the report showed. The Japan hedge fund index was the strongest among seven regional gauges last month.

Eurekahedge’s figures are estimates based on the 39 percent of funds that have so far reported performance to the researcher. The firm plans to release full data later this month. About 120 hedge funds started in the first quarter, it said.

Hedge funds are mostly private pools of capital whose managers participate substantially in the profits from their speculation on whether the price of assets will rise or fall.