Hedge Fund Averages Up this year

An index of managers compiled by Hedge Fund Research climbed 2.45% in November, leaving it up 11.69% this year. Five of the six hedge-fund strategy indexes run by Dow Jones also rose last month.

Hedge funds also outperformed the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 stock market index in November for the first time since May as managers benefited from a falling U.S. dollar, sliding bond yields and a rebound in energy prices.

Managers tracked by Hedgefund.net returned 2.18% on average last month, compared to 1.65% for the S&P 500, leaving them up 10.65% so far this year.

A rebound in energy prices also helped hedge funds focused on that sector. Energy funds tracked by Hedge Fund Research gained 4.41% in November, leaving them up 16.59% so far this year.

Hedge Funds and the Middle East

The Middle East accounted for 8%, or $28.9bn, of the global hedge fund market last year. According to a new Bank of New York study, hedge funds will draw a forecast $140.3bn in investments from the Middle East by 2010, accounting for 15% invested globally. Institutional investors provide 40% of the global market, which will increase to 65% by 2010, the study said.

The report by the Bank of New York and Casey, Quirk and Associates LLC, entitled “Institutional Demand for Hedge Funds 2: A Global Perspective”, also estimates that by 2010 nearly 25% of institutional investors will have investments in hedge funds, up from 15% today. It estimates institutional investors will account for more than 50% of flows into hedge funds through 2010 compared to 30% today.

The forecast demand for hedge funds is set to triple to $1 trillion by 2010, up from $360 billion today, as investors continue to embrace alternative investments, the report shows.