The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 0.78 per cent in December, bringing the year-to-date return of the index to 19.30 per cent, according to RBC Capital Markets.

These returns are estimated and will be finalised by the middle of next month. The return for November 2009 has been finalised at 0.93 per cent.

The best performing strategy in December was Mergers & Special Situations, which rose 4.01 per cent.

Also posting positive performances were fixed income arbitrage (1.99 per cent), credit (1.83 per cent), equity long/short (1.31 per cent), convertible arbitrage (0.32 per cent), and multi-strategy (0.70 per cent).

The worst performing strategy was managed futures, which fell by 4.07 per cent in December.

Negative results were also posted by equity market neutral (-0.07 per cent) and macro (-0.39 per cent).

The RBC Hedge 250 Index is an investable benchmark of the performance of the hedge fund industry.