Just when investors seem ready to ring the death knell for hedge funds, one has outperformed the markets by a sufficient margin to give them pause for thought.
Dark horse Pure Alpha – the flagship fund for Bridgewater which returned a mere 1.2 percent in 2017 – was an unexpected winner in 2018, clocking returns of 15 percent in a particularly turbulent year for global markets.
In a report first published in the «Financial Times» (behind paywall), legendary investor Ray Dalio’s 160 billion hedge fund group, Bridgewater, became the poster boy for the industry at a time when investors are questioning the steep fees and illiquid nature of hedge funds.
In a year when hedge funds returned 2 percent on average, the Pure Alpha fund’s outperformance is a welcome silver lining.
