New York-based hedge fund firm Gondor Capital Management has outperformed its much larger peers in the first four months of 2017 with strong gains.

 
Vincent Au, portfolio manager at Gondor Capital, says its domestic Gondor Partners LP gained 8.32 per cent through April (+0.36 per cent MTD, while its offshore Gondor Funds LTD generated a strong 7.75 per cent per cent returns during the same period (+0.43 per cent MTD).
 
The solid performances of Gondor’s two funds outshines their much bigger counterparts as the average hedge funds returned less than half of what they generated in the first four months of this year. The HFRX Hedge Fund Index gained 3.43 per cent through April.
 
In March, Gondor Partners and Gondor Funds returned 1.41 per cent and 2.18 per cent respectively.
 
Au says: “March 2017 was a month, I decided to take risk off with the French elections looming as well as my belief valuations are stretched currently. Being the portfolio manager is not always generating alpha, it is also about ensuring the funds do not lose money. March was a month where we accepted a lower return in exchange for a higher probability of success.”
 
Since its inception in May 2013, Gondor’s onshore fund has generated a cumulative return 77.83 per cent compared to HFRX Equity Hedge which returned 7.80 per cent and the S&P 500 posted 62.39 per cent during the same period. The Gondor Funds LTD has a cumulative return of 48.18 per cent since its launch in July 2013, while the HFRX Equity Hedge and the S&P 500 posting 8.97 per cent and 60.83 per cent respectively in the same period.
 
Au adds: “While I am very happy with the funds’ performance and returns, I am personally most gratified by ‘80 per cent plus’ that is the percentage of the months the funds have been profitable regardless of market conditions.”
 
Since their launch, Gondor Partners and Gondor Funds LTD sustained losses in only five months each, with the rest of the months reporting positive gains.