Hedge funds gained 0.4% in August, with year-to-date performance up 3.5%, Hedge Fund Research reported Thursday.
The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index has now posted gains for six consecutive months after recording losses in January and February.
The HFRI Asset Weighted Composite Index advanced 0.4% for the month and is up 0.5% for the year.
Event-driven strategies were the top performers in August, led by strong contributions from activist and distressed strategies. The HFRI Event-Driven Index gained 1.8% for the month, pushing year-to-date performance up by 6%.
Shareholder activist sub-strategies surged, adding 3.7% in August, following a gain of 3.1% in July. Distressed sub-strategies also recorded strong gains for the month, up 2.1%, and 8.1% year to date.
Equity hedge strategies also generated strong monthly returns, led by exposures to energy and basic materials. The HFRI Equity Hedge Index was up 1.3%, bringing the gain for the year to 3.4%.
The volatile energy/basic materials sub-index jumped 3.4% in August as oil surged, and has gained 16.7% in 2016.
The fundamental value sub-index advanced 1.7% in August, and the multi-strategy sub-index added 1.6%.
"In an environment dominated by demands for ultra-liquidity, a common performance theme is each of these leading strategies captures a liquidity premium over an intermediate timeframe by leveraging both fundamental and transactional specializations," HFR President Kenneth Heinz said in a statement.
