The global hedge fund business started the fourth quarter of 2021 on a high note, with aggregate industry performance at +1.88 per cent in October and just over 70 per cent of funds reporting to eVestment seeing positive results for the month, according to the just-released October 2021 eVestment hedge fund performance data. 

Year to date (YTD) performance for the hedge fund industry stands at +10.86 per cent, very close to surpassing the +11.07 per cent aggregate return the industry posted in 2020.
 
Commodity-focused funds continue to be among the strongest performing segments of the hedge fund business, with October average returns at +3.10 per cent and YTD performance at +22.63 per cent. Commodities funds’ YTD 2021 performance is much stronger than the +5.84 per cent these funds posted for all of 2020.
 
Among the Equity fund subsectors eVestment tracks, Equity Energy focused funds are also among the strongest performers, at +5.19 per cent in October and YTD average performance at +28.41 per cent. Equity Financial focused funds are also among the business’ top performers this year, posting average returns of +2.59 per cent in October and +22.73 per cent YTD.
 
India-focused funds, which have performed phenomenally this year, dipped into negative territory in October, with average performance for the month coming in at -1.79 per cent. These funds are still leading the entire hedge fund industry YTD with average returns at +41.40 per cent.

Among the primary strategies eVestment tracks, Event Driven – Activist funds were the top performers, with October average returns of +3.82 per cent and YTD average returns of +24.84 per cent.

Origination & Financing, Long/Short Equity and Managed Futures – were strong performers in October, with average performance figures for these funds in October all above +2 per cent, beating the industry average.

Size has not proven to be an advantage in 2021, with the 10 largest hedge funds reporting to eVestment seeing average returns of +0.99 per cent in October and YTD average performance of +6.90 per cent, both below the industry performance averages and performance averages for many other hedge fund types and strategies eVestment tracks.