Bloomberg – Hedge funds returned an average 5.2 percent in May, the best performance in more than nine years, as they attracted more money and global markets rallied, Eurekahedge Pte said.

The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, tracking more than 2,000 funds, has advanced 9.2 percent this year, according to a preliminary report by the research firm based on the 27 percent of funds that reported May performance. The industry recorded net inflows for the first time in 10 months in May, gaining $1.5 billion, while total assets rose by $5 billion, the report said.

“Numbers of this magnitude clearly won’t last, but I do think the industry will have a very good year,” said Peter Douglas, principal of GFIA Pte, a Singapore-based hedge-fund consulting firm. “What we like at the moment is equity long- shorts, and Asia is an equity story.” Long-short equity funds bet on rising and falling stock prices.

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CNN.com – The girlfriend of a convicted hedge fund manager who disappeared last year, leading to speculation that he had committed suicide rather than report to prison, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to helping him, according to federal prosecutors.

Debra Ryan pleaded guilty to "aiding and abetting Samuel Israel III’s failure to surrender to serve his sentence on June 8, 2008," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

With the guilty plea, she avoids a trial but still faces up to 10 years in prison. But the judge indicated Tuesday that she will most likely face about four to 10 months in prison, federal prosecutors said.

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