Hedge funds to prove their worth in EM sell-off

[LONDON] A sell-off in emerging markets has given hedge funds a chance to prove they can profit from even the most testing market conditions - and try to justify their lucrative fees.

These are conditions in which hedge funds are meant to be able to outperform, using their much wider array of trading tactics to capitalise on default risks, currency routs and share price falls.

After underperforming regular stock benchmarks for the past five years, this year they have just about managed to beat the market, according to Hedge Fund Research's HFRX index, gaining 0.9 per cent this year to Feb 25 compared with a 4.7 per cent fall in the MSCI Emerging Markets index and a 0.3 per cent gain in the S&P 500 Total Return index.