Hedge Fund Indices
Substantial increase in the use of Hedge Funds in recent times has created demand for appropriate indices that can offer a good tool to assess and benchmark the Fund performance. This can be seen from where in returns of various hedge fund strategies from 2003-2006 are shown. Currently, popular Hedge Fund indices include Hedge Fund Research (HFR) and EACM (Evaluation Associates Capital Management). Generally, Hedge Fund indices are constructed to show a Hedge Fund's performance by the investment style. Some industry observers also believe that the return generated by Fund of Hedge Funds is often taken as the overall industry performance.
Hedge Funds are consistent performers and are posting double digit returns for the last ten years. Between 1994 and 2005, US shares produced an average annual return of 10.6 percent, just outpaced by hedge funds, which according to Credit Suisse/Tremont, produced an 11 percent average annual return. Therefore, an investor can add significant value to his portfolio by including a Hedge Fund through the systematic implementation of active style allocation decisions which can add alpha to his overall portfolio returns (above average return from particular benchmark).