Hedge funds fare well compared with mutual funds

Hedge-fund performance perplexed a lot of people last year. Volatility should have made for outsized returns but it didn't really turn out that way. This year, however, things are different. Some would say the relative performances of hedge funds versus mutual funds is as it should be. Hedge funds are up about .3 percent for the year, according to Morningstar. Not great in absolute terms, but terrific compared to mutual funds. Diversified stock funds are down about 10 percent. Is this the short component at work? Maybe. The best performing hedge funds over the last 12 months were those that invested in futures, options and currencies; commodity price hikes boosted returns to about 18 percent. We're seeing a lot of money chasing in the hot sectors right now. We'll see if a commodity price reversal sinks performance or boosts it.  

For more:
- here's the Morningstar figures

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