Returns for the Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Index suggest that hedge funds were negatively impacted by broad market sell-offs in August, although certain sectors showed resilience amid the increased market volatility.

Although the index was down 1.14 per cent in August, it outperformed the MSCI World which fell 4.03 per cent.

Helping to minimise the losses of the index was the Global Macro Liquid Index, which posted slight gains of 0.69 per cent for the month.

Despite the month's negative returns, the index remains largely positive year-to-date with three of the four sector indices posting gains.

Merger arbitrage remains the best performing sector with year-to-date gains of 5.57 per cent as a result of the recent increase in M&A activity. It fell by 0.39 per cent in August.

The worst performing sector in August was long/short, which fell by 2.11 per cent.