Hedge funds lose out to equities once more

[LONDON] For hedge funds that made money this year there was only one strategy that really mattered - latching onto the stockmarket rally.

For everyone else, 2013 proved another tough year as big-name funds as varied as global macro, commodity and computer-driven funds struggled to make money, eating further into the track record of these one-time "masters of the universe".

So far this year, the average hedge fund is up 8.2 per cent - the best year in three but lower than a near 21 per cent rise in the MSCI World Index for stocks.