Overall industry hedge fund performance came in at +0.04 per cent in August, bringing year to date (YTD) 2018 industry performance to +1.10 per cent, according to data released by eVestment.

Among primary strategies, event driven-activist funds were among the big winners in August, with performance of +1.93 per cent, bringing YTD performance to +2.72 per cent.
 
Managed futures funds also put up strong returns in August, coming in at +1.77 per cent for the month, although these funds’ performance is still negative for the year at -1.83 per cent.
 
Macro funds were the only primary strategy to post negative returns for the month, with performance coming in at -0.30 per cent. Multi-strategy funds and market neutral equity funds were just barely positive for the month however, at +0.04 per cent and +0.09 per cent respectively.
 
Bigger wasn’t better in August, with the 10 largest hedge funds reporting to eVestment coming in negative at -0.04 per cent in August, although those 10 largest funds are positive for the year at +1.30 per cent.
 
Big managed futures funds were positive for August, with returns for the 10 largest managed futures funds coming in at +2.81 per cent in August, although those 10 largest funds are still negative for the year at -2.86 per cent.
 
Funds focused on the BRIC countries were generally negative in August, with only India-focused funds eking out positive results for the month at +0.08 per cent. India-focused funds are deeply negative for the year at -10.06 per cent and far from their stellar performance of +32.87 per cent in 2017.