The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 0.33 per cent in June, bringing the year-to-date return of the index to 10.72 per cent, according to RBC Capital Markets.

The RBC Hedge 250 Index had a net return of 0.33 per cent in June, bringing the year-to-date return of the index to 10.72 per cent, according to RBC Capital Markets.

These returns are estimated and will be finalized by the middle of next month. The return for May 2009 has been finalized at 6.83 per cent.

Convertible arbitrage was the strongest performing strategy, returning 4.85 per cent in June. Fixed income arbitrage was also positive, up 1.62 per cent, as was credit (up 2.25 per cent), multi-strategy (up 1.05 per cent) and mergers and special situations (up 1.19 per cent).

However, four strategies posted negative returns for June: equity market neutral (-0.22 per cent), equity long/short (-0.64 per cent), macro (-0.32 per cent) and managed futures (-1.18 per cent).

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

Since its inception on 1 July 2005 through the end of May 2009, the RBC Hedge 250 Index has had an annualized net return of 2.53 per cent. In comparison, over the same period, other investable indices have averaged -1.56 per cent while non-investable indices have averaged 4.25 per cent, according to information reported by the sponsors of those indices.