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In general, hedge funds ended 2023 by underperforming the broader market averages in December, continuing a trend that marked the year as a whole.
According to data from Goldman Sachs, hedge funds were able to gain 1.7% on a global basis in December. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (SP500) (SPY) climbed 4.5% during that period. That Nasdaq (COMP.IND) jumped 5.3% for the month.
For the year, the global simple average for hedge funds showed an 8.1% gain, Goldman’s data showed. The S&P500 advanced 23.8% and the Nasdaq surged 54.9% during 2023.
Meanwhile, no style of hedge fund strategy had an edge over the market. Goldman reported that event-driven funds were the best performers among the strategy categories, being +3.8% for December. Meanwhile, credit-focused funds were +2.3% and equity fundamental long/short funds advanced by +2.3%.
Looking at 2023 as a whole, event-driven funds were +10.2%, credit-focused funds were +9.8% and equity fundamental long/short funds were +9.9%.
