The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 497.80 points in the week ending 27 March, or 6.84 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 497.80 points in the week ending 27 March, or 6.84 per cent.

It was up for the third week in a row - the longest advancing streak since the three week ended 2 May 2008.

It was also the biggest three week gain since the three week ended 3 September 1982.

According to David Krein, senior director, institutional markets at Dow Jones Indexes, one of the easiest ways to tell how well a hedge fund is actually 'hedging' market risk is to analyze the correlation between the fund's returns and the returns of the overall stock market. 

All of the five Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks have very low 36-month correlations to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  As a result, nearly every one of the benchmarks outperformed the DJIA over the past 36 months. Three outperformed the DJIA by a margin of 25 per cent or more. 

Distressed securities was the only strategy benchmark that underperformed the DJIA, as unfavourable economic conditions made it extremely difficult for struggling companies to survive over the past two years.