Excuses, excuses and more excuses grumbles Reuters. And seriously who can disagree? Some of the best-known hedge fund managers have offered lots of excuses for underperforming the major stock market indexes last year, with many large funds posting double-digit losses.
In letters to investors, managers pointed to things like Europe's debt crisis, a slower-than-expected economic recovery in the United States, and unforeseen events like Japan's nuclear disaster all coming together to create a tricky trading environment that was characterized by big and often unpredictable swings in stock prices.
The result was a humbling year for the $1.7 trillion (1.1 trillion pounds) hedge fund industry, with the average fund dropping 4.8 percent and some stock-focused funds suffering an average 19 percent decline, according to research compiled by Hedge Fund Research and Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.
Investors who sidestepped hedge funds and instead chose mutual funds fared much better. For example, the Vanguard 500 Index fund gained 2 percent, and PIMCO's StocksPLUS Long Duration Fund, 2011's best performing mutual fund, enjoyed a 21.2 percent return.
Not everyone is buying the hedge fund managers' excuses….
More? Check out http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/uk-hedgefunds-idUSLNE80A02E20120111
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