(Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds lost a record 7.9% in the first half of the year on an asset-weighted basis, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc.
None of the four major strategies made money as the industry struggled to trade with the Covid-19 pandemic convulsing global markets. Event-driven funds were the worst performers, losing 9.6%. Relative-value funds posted the smallest decline, at 5.1%. The losses for the period were the steepest ever in data going back to 2008, according to HFR data released Wednesday.
In March, the industry grappled with the end of the longest bull market as the coronavirus spread worldwide. But equities bounced back by the end of June, with the S&P 500 Index surging 39% from its March 23 low. Funds broadly fell 0.4% in June, even as the S&P benchmark gained 1.8% to cap its best quarter since 1998. It was the fourth month in the red for hedge funds this year.
Some of the managers taking hits in the first half of 2020 include Glenview Capital Management and Renaissance Technologies.
Read more: Renaissance's Market-Neutral Funds Fell Almost 20% in First Half
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