Indices › Performance
Hedge fund research
How have hedge funds performed over the last 10 years?
The PivotalPath Composite Hedge Fund Index returned 7.2% annualised over the ten years to August 2026, and 9.3% annualised since January 2000 — with annualised volatility of 4.8% and a maximum drawdown of -12.8%.
7.2%
10-year annualised
7.2%
5-year annualised
9.3%
Since January 2000
7.1%
Year to date
Composite figures as of August 2026.
Returns by strategy and period
| Index | 10y ann. | 5y ann. | 3y ann. | Since 2000 | Volatility | Max DD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Sector | 10.8% | 9.0% | 20.1% | 13.0% | 8.4% | -20.6% |
| Equity Diversified | 8.2% | 7.9% | 13.6% | 9.7% | 7.0% | -18.5% |
| Event Driven | 7.8% | 6.6% | 11.4% | 9.3% | 6.9% | -21.2% |
| Multi-Strategy | 7.5% | 7.5% | 10.3% | 9.1% | 4.2% | -15.0% |
| Composite | 7.2% | 7.2% | 11.0% | 9.3% | 4.8% | -12.8% |
| Credit | 6.4% | 6.5% | 8.4% | 8.9% | 4.9% | -17.5% |
| Equity Quant | 5.9% | 9.4% | 10.6% | 6.2% | 4.5% | -19.2% |
| Global Macro | 5.0% | 7.0% | 7.6% | 7.9% | 5.9% | -9.4% |
| Volatility Trading | 3.7% | 4.4% | 3.7% | 8.4% | 5.0% | -4.6% |
| Managed Futures | 3.4% | 4.7% | 3.2% | 7.3% | 9.3% | -15.4% |
Year to date
| Index | Year to date | 1 year | Sharpe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Sector | 13.8% | 29.4% | 1.28 |
| Managed Futures | 9.6% | 17.7% | 0.59 |
| Equity Diversified | 8.2% | 12.9% | 1.09 |
| Composite | 7.1% | 12.4% | 1.48 |
| Event Driven | 6.9% | 11.1% | 1.05 |
| Global Macro | 6.0% | 10.7% | 0.98 |
| Multi-Strategy | 5.9% | 10.9% | 1.65 |
| Equity Quant | 3.9% | 6.9% | 0.96 |
| Credit | 3.7% | 5.8% | 1.38 |
| Volatility Trading | 3.7% | 5.0% | 1.28 |
What stands out
Over ten years Equity Sector leads at 10.8% annualised and Managed Futures trails at 3.4%. The dispersion between strategies is the point: a single hedge fund number averages away the thing an allocator is selecting for.
Returns over periods longer than one year are annualised; one-year and year-to-date figures are cumulative. The two are not comparable.
Returns are monthly, net of all fees, in USD. The complete return history is published free under a Creative Commons Attribution licence at github.com/pivotalpath/publicdata, and the full construction methodology — including the treatment of selection, survivorship and backfill bias — is in the index methodology. Past performance does not predict future returns.