Preqin released its latest fact sheet on Friday, January 17.

Hedge fund performance was strong at the end of 2019.

The Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark returned +2.00% in December, bringing the 2019 return to +11.58%.

Funds of hedge funds gained 1.32% in December, generating a 2019 return of +8.34%, the highest annual return since 2013 (+8.82%).

Hedge Fund Performance in December

Equity strategies were the best performing top-level strategy tracked by Preqin in both the month of December and 2019 overall, returning +2.60% and +14.84% respectively. Relative value strategies did not fare so well, generating +0.38% in December and +4.96% in 2019.

BRL-denominated hedge funds returned +3.12% in December, recovering from a comparatively weak November (+0.34%). This pushed their 2019 return to +14.43% and the three-year annualized figure to +14.27% – the highest of all top-level currencies tracked by Preqin.

Hedge funds denominated in JPY struggled to reach the heights of other currencies, returning +0.71% and +4.34% respectively in December and 2019.

Large hedge funds outperformed all other fund size classifications in December (+2.52%), building upon gains of 0.99% in November.

Emerging and small hedge funds rounded off 2019 by gaining 1.84% and 1.67%.

The U.S. markets closed the year on a very positive note. The Federal Reserve had caused jitters at the start of 2019 with concerns about interest rate hikes. However, the Fed cut its benchmark rate three times last year. It appears that the Fed will continue to keep rates low. The central bank has also continued to pump fresh capital into the repo markets.

Meanwhile, a Phase One deal on trade between the U.S. and China has investors hoping for more dialogue between the countries.

To download Preqin’s latest fact sheet and three-year performance measurements, visit here.

Related: Preqin Releases ESG Indicators

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