HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Credit Suisse Tremont Index LLC released a new research piece, 1H 2009 Hedge Fund Update: Halfway There, a review of how hedge funds have repositioned themselves in the first half of 2009 to generate positive returns for five out of the first six months of the year.

The report discusses how hedge funds have generated year-to-date returns of 7.2% through June 30, outperforming, with lower volatility, both key equity and bond indices. Some key takeaways from the report include:

    * The Convertible Arbitrage, Emerging Markets, and Global Macro sectors have received increased attention as investors began to regain their appetite for risk and global markets rallied.

    * Performance has improved across most sectors, with the bulk of returns for many strategies moving into positive territory for the year, with 80% of all funds reporting positive returns for the second quarter.

    * Overall industry assets under management have dropped approximately $18 billion since the end of the first quarter of 2009; we estimate industry assets totaled $1.3 trillion as of June 30 – down from $1.5 trillion at the end of 2008.

    * As of June 30, 2009, an estimated 9.6% of funds were classified as impaired, meaning they have either suspended redemptions, imposed gate provisions or sidepocketed assets.

Credit Suisse is comprised of a number of legal entities around the world and is headquartered in Zurich. The registered shares of Credit Suisse’s parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares, in New York.

Editing by Alex Akesson
alex@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!

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The Australian – US stocks fell as another drop in oil prices and a warning from Toyota Motor underscored the unsparing nature of the slowdown.

Toyota forecast an operating loss for the current year, the first in the car maker’s history. The Japanese giant was thought to have developed a watertight strategy that would yield profits through thick and thin, making it the subject of managerial guides like the 2004 book The Toyota Way.

But the spreading recession caught up on Toyota, too, and it blamed a slump in the global automobile market and a sharp appreciation in the Japanese yen against major currencies for a likely loss. American depositary shares of Toyota fell $US3.50, or 5.45 per cent, to $US60.88.

General Motors was by far the weakest stock on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, falling US97 cents, or 22 per cent, to 3.52. Analysts warned that the Government rescue measure may not be enough to keep the car and truck maker out of bankruptcy court.

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Tags: american depositary shares, automobile market, bankruptcy-court, car maker, currencies, dow jones industrial, dow-jones, dow-jones-industrial-average, general-motors, japanese giant, japanese yen, oil prices, profits, recession, slowdown, slump, toyota, toyota motor, toyota way, us3