The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 1.65 per cent in August, bringing year-to-date returns to 14.90 per cent, according to RBC Capital Markets.

The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 1.65 per cent in August, bringing year-to-date returns to 14.90 per cent, according to RBC Capital Markets.

These returns are estimated and will be finalised by the middle of next month. The return for July 2009 has been finalised at 2.09 per cent.

The RBC Hedge 250 Index is an investable benchmark of the performance of the hedge fund industry, comprised of approximately 250 actual hedge funds. The universe on which the index is based currently consists of 5,307 hedge funds (excludes funds of hedge funds) with aggregate assets under management of USD930bn.

Since its inception on 1 July 2005 through the end of July 2009, the RBC Hedge 250 Index has had an annualized net return of 3.03 per cent. In comparison, over the same period, other investable indices have averaged -1.02 per cent while non-investable indices have averaged 4.81 per cent, according to information reported by the sponsors of those indices.