Hedge funds return 2.04% in April

Hedge fund returns were up in April but fell short of several leading major indicators. The Greenwich Global Hedge Fund index returned 2.04% in April and is up 4.81% at the first four months of 2007, falling short of several leading major indicators. The Standard & Poor's 500, MSCI World Equity, FTSE 100 indexes were up 4.43%, 4.21% and 2.24%, respectively during the same period. "Hedge funds continue to deliver solid returns, but with significantly less risk than equities," said Ben Rossman, general manager at Greenwich Alternative Investments in Connecticut. "Over the last five year period, for example, hedge funds' annualized volatility measured about 4.5%, which is roughly a third of the 12%-13% volatility experienced by equities." Greenwich noted that 17 of its 18 strategies ended the month in positive territory, with futures leading with a 4.42% increase, emerging markets increasing 3.35% and opportunistic strategy was up 2.73%. Short selling was the lone strategy in the red, falling 2.91%. The April index was comprised of 972 funds. Greenwich said that the final results will be released at the end of the month.