market folly

It's time to check in on some how of the big name hedge funds have been performing over the last month. If you missed our last updates, we've previously covered their 2008 year end performance, as well as their January & Feburary 2009 performance. We'll first get to the numbers and then follow up with some commentary. In no particular order:

Hedge Funds in general gained 1.8% for March. According to Hedge Fund Research, equity hedge funds were the best performers (gaining 3.4%), while global macro performed the worst (-1.21%).

Paulson & Co (John Paulson): Advantage Plus Fund +2.15% for March, +10.33% ytd. (View their portfolio holdings, latest activity, & year-end report).

Jim Simons Renaissance Technologies (Rentec): Institutional Equities +0.5% for March, -8.38% ytd. We recently covered their portfolio and noted that Mr. Simons was ranked on both Forbes' billionaire list and the list of the top 25 highest paid hedge fund managers of 2008.

David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital: +4.5% for March, +5.5% ytd. (View their portfolio, David's book, & recent activity).

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square: LP +7.9% for March, +3.6% ytd. (Their portfolio here & performance breakdown here).

David Tepper's Appaloosa Investment: +13.7% for March, +11.2% ytd.

Steven Cohen's SAC Capital: +3% for March, +10% ytd. Stevie Cohen was recently on Forbes' billionaire list, as well as the top hedge fund manager losers of 2008. Here's their recently updated portfolio.

D.E. Shaw: Composite International +0.8% for March, +5.59% ytd.

Ken Griffin's Citadel: Kensington & Wellington (flagship funds) +3% in March, +11% ytd.

Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital: Neutral -0.63% for March, +3.21% ytd. Maverick +3.6% for March, +3.12% ytd. (View their portfolio).

Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global: +0.99% for March, +9.27% ytd. (Here are their portfolio holdings).

Shumway Capital Partners (Chris Shumway): Ocean fund +0.15% for March, +5.91% ytd. (Their positions here).

Highbridge: Flagship +7.2% ytd

Balyasny Asset Management: Atlas Global -0.20% for March, +1.99% ytd.

Brevan Howard: Class A +1.23% for March, +9.67% ytd.

Ricky Sandler's Eminence Capital: -0.4% for March, +5.23% ytd. (We'll be covering their portfolio soon, but in the mean time here are their Q3 holdings).

Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners: +0.74% for March, +4.06% ytd. (Harbinger starting new hedge fund & recent portfolio activity).

Louis Bacon's Moore Capital Management: Global Fixed Income +2.42% for March, +6.35% ytd. Macro +3.21% for March, +0.99% ytd. (View their portfolio).

Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates: Global -0.8% for March, +3.43% ytd. Alpha Equity -7.4% ytd. (Here are their positions).

Tudor Investment Corp (Paul Tudor Jones): BVI Global -0.15% for March, +4.46% ytd. (Here's their latest portfolio).

James Palotta's Raptor Global: +1% for March, -1.34% ytd. (Their recent activity here).

Perry Partners: +0.54% for March, +1.53% ytd.

Barton Biggs' Traxis Partners: Fund -10.73% ytd. (Also check out Barton's book).

Art Samberg's Pequot Capital: Healthcare Fund -14.2% ytd. (View their portfolio).

Bluecrest Capital: +13.43% ytd.

Dan Loeb's Third Point: -3% for March, -1.44% ytd. (Full performance breakdown here).

William von Mueffling's Cantillon Capital Management: -7.9% for March, -0.81% ytd.


Overall, the hedge funds profiled above fared well in March. Some analysts believed that up to as much as 13% of the capital in the industry was withdrawn in the first quarter. Additionally, International Financial Services London thinks hedge fund assets could drop more than 20% in 2009. And, this would be in addition to the 30% drop we saw last year. While we believe that the major wave of redemptions is behind us (November), there will still be little ripples as those in need of capital scrounge up what they can. This, of course, would also assume we don't have another massive market collapse. Last year and this year certainly separated the pack though. Make sure to check out Forbes' billionaire list, the top 25 highest paid hedge fund managers of 2008, as well as the top hedge fund manager losers of 2008. For the most part, hedge funds have outperformed the S&P500 thus far. We'll have to see if this trend continues, seeing as funds started off 2008 well, then slumped in the later part of the year.