Hedge-Fund Industry Gained Average of 0.4% in August, Research Firm Says

The industry gained 1.7 percent this year through August, the Chicago-based researcher said today in an e-mailed statement.

Macro hedge funds, which seek to profit from broad economic themes by trading stocks, commodities and currencies, returned 2.2 percent last month, making them the best-performing major category. Macro funds advanced 1 percent for the year, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Equity hedge funds lost the most last month among major categories, falling 0.9 percent, the firm said. They gained 0.7 percent this year.

Relative value funds, those that bet on price differences between markets, have done best this year, with a 6.4 percent increase, according to the research firm. The funds climbed 0.8 percent last month.

Funds that invest client money in other hedge funds added less than 0.1 percent in August and about 0.4 percent for the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net;