Waterbury Republican-American – The hedge-fund industry has achieved considerable success selling investments designed to make money no matter how the stock market fares.
So far, the relative handful of mutual funds using hedge-fund strategies has not made market inroads, although that could change.
These funds are easier to identify after Morningstar Inc. in February created a new category for them in the Chicago firm’s influential rankings.
That is good news for Richard J. Gates, a portfolio manager at TFS Capital LLC, of West Chester, Pa. His TFS Market Neutral Fund, launched in September 2004, has $10.8 million in assets and earned a total return last year of 5.9 percent.
“There is not a clearly defined group of funds that people can compare us to,” Gates said.
