Hedge funds erase 2011's gains in just 24 hours

Hedge funds saw the majority of their gains for this year wiped out on Friday, losing over 1% of their value in just 24 hours.

Half the alternative strategies reporting daily data to Hedge Fund Research's investable indices posted more than a 1% loss in value. The $2trn hedge fund industry had struggled to a modest 1.55% by the end of July, according to the data providers' broader, non-investable index. However, during Friday's heavy sell-off, it lost 1.1%, as per the narrower, investable industry index, which is widely seen as a precursor to whole-industry figures. The narrower benchmark showed managers overall were 1.9% lower this month and 4.12% down this year. The industry's performance this month i...