Fourth Quarter Market and Performance Update

The S&P 500 soared nearly 29% in 2021, nearly half of which was generated just in the 4th quarter in spite of clear threats to growth. It was during these last 3 months of the year when the gap between the index and the Top 50 Hedge Funds drastically expanded from nearly 5% to more than 18%. While most of the 50 sustained their historical annualized returns, two basic factors drove last year’s performance gap. One: the 10 largest contributors to the S&P 500’s returns were responsible for more than one-third of the index’s total gains. Two: the reversal in fortunes suffered by a handful of veteran hedged equity and global macro managers who had a long history of consistent solid returns. This report will explore why this occurred.

Note: two thirds of the 4th-quarter gains linked to the index's top contributors’ were lost during the first 7 weeks of 2022 —before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Download the report to learn more.