Indices › Performance › By year
Hedge fund research
Hedge fund returns by year, 2000 to 2026
27 calendar years of hedge fund index returns, by strategy, alongside the S&P 500 total return for each year. Net of all fees, in USD. The complete monthly history behind this table is free to download.
Calendar-year returns by strategy
| Year | Equity Sector | Equity Diversified | Composite | Event Driven | Multi-Strategy | Credit | Volatility Trading | Global Macro | Managed Futures | Equity Quant | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13.7% | 8.2% | 7.1% | 6.9% | 5.9% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 5.9% | 9.6% | 3.9% | 13.1% |
| 2025 | 24.5% | 15.8% | 12.0% | 13.2% | 10.7% | 7.8% | 4.4% | 9.8% | -1.0% | 8.9% | 17.9% |
| 2024 | 14.9% | 12.6% | 10.6% | 10.5% | 11.3% | 10.6% | 2.7% | 6.4% | 3.0% | 14.5% | 25.0% |
| 2023 | 15.0% | 11.0% | 7.6% | 7.2% | 5.9% | 8.5% | 0.9% | 1.1% | -2.2% | 7.6% | 26.3% |
| 2022 | -14.6% | -7.0% | -1.1% | -5.3% | 1.8% | 0.5% | 9.3% | 11.5% | 14.7% | 6.0% | -18.1% |
| 2021 | 0.7% | 9.3% | 7.8% | 10.5% | 9.2% | 10.8% | 0.2% | 4.3% | 8.8% | 14.7% | 28.7% |
| 2020 | 25.0% | 13.4% | 11.4% | 16.1% | 12.9% | 5.4% | 9.9% | 4.9% | 1.2% | -4.6% | 18.4% |
| 2019 | 16.6% | 12.6% | 9.0% | 10.1% | 7.5% | 4.3% | 2.2% | 5.6% | 7.1% | 0.1% | 31.5% |
| 2018 | 0.7% | -4.8% | -1.6% | -2.5% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 1.3% | -2.0% | -3.7% | -0.5% | -4.4% |
| 2017 | 14.9% | 11.5% | 8.0% | 10.1% | 6.8% | 7.7% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 1.7% | 7.6% | 21.8% |
| 2016 | 3.9% | 2.2% | 5.0% | 6.0% | 4.8% | 9.7% | 6.4% | 5.1% | 0.6% | 4.1% | 12.0% |
| 2015 | 7.3% | 4.3% | 2.5% | -1.6% | 2.7% | -1.3% | 9.8% | 2.3% | 2.5% | 9.3% | 1.4% |
| 2014 | 12.4% | 5.8% | 7.0% | 3.9% | 4.4% | 4.8% | 2.5% | 9.5% | 18.5% | 9.8% | 13.7% |
| 2013 | 27.2% | 20.1% | 14.7% | 18.2% | 12.4% | 12.5% | -0.5% | 8.0% | 2.7% | 14.8% | 32.4% |
| 2012 | 11.7% | 12.5% | 10.7% | 12.3% | 11.3% | 13.9% | 5.2% | 7.0% | -1.9% | 7.7% | 16.0% |
| 2011 | 3.3% | -0.3% | 1.2% | -5.3% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 8.6% | 4.2% | 2.4% | 16.7% | 2.1% |
| 2010 | 14.6% | 11.9% | 13.5% | 13.0% | 12.5% | 15.7% | 2.6% | 15.6% | 12.4% | 12.2% | 15.1% |
| 2009 | 27.8% | 30.0% | 27.2% | 36.6% | 29.5% | 38.1% | 3.2% | 16.0% | -2.5% | 4.3% | 26.4% |
| 2008 | -15.9% | -16.4% | -10.5% | -20.2% | -13.0% | -16.6% | 17.5% | 4.9% | 26.5% | -11.5% | -37.0% |
| 2007 | 16.2% | 19.9% | 15.4% | 18.4% | 17.0% | 11.8% | 20.2% | 8.5% | 16.0% | 0.7% | 5.5% |
| 2006 | 19.5% | 15.8% | 14.4% | 15.1% | 17.2% | 14.6% | 6.7% | 7.9% | 10.9% | 6.8% | 15.8% |
| 2005 | 15.3% | 16.8% | 10.9% | 7.9% | 10.7% | 10.3% | 17.3% | 6.5% | 3.9% | 9.0% | 4.9% |
| 2004 | 10.8% | 13.3% | 11.1% | 20.5% | 9.8% | 14.1% | 13.0% | 7.2% | 5.9% | 5.4% | 10.9% |
| 2003 | 21.3% | 25.6% | 20.3% | 32.4% | 15.9% | 22.6% | 15.5% | 19.3% | 12.0% | 3.7% | 28.7% |
| 2002 | 1.8% | 0.9% | 9.5% | 0.2% | 5.1% | 7.1% | 9.3% | 22.6% | 25.9% | — | -22.1% |
| 2001 | 23.9% | 12.8% | 14.2% | 14.3% | 12.0% | 14.6% | 14.0% | 16.6% | 11.8% | — | -11.9% |
| 2000 | 57.6% | 13.6% | 16.0% | 14.4% | 22.7% | 13.2% | 49.7% | 4.1% | 16.4% | — | -9.1% |
Years the equity market fell
The years worth studying are the negative ones, and they are listed here with the strategy that did best in each.
| Year | S&P 500 | Composite | Best strategy | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -18.1% | -1.1% | Managed Futures | 14.7% |
| 2018 | -4.4% | -1.6% | Volatility Trading | 1.3% |
| 2008 | -37.0% | -10.5% | Managed Futures | 26.5% |
| 2002 | -22.1% | 9.5% | Managed Futures | 25.9% |
| 2001 | -11.9% | 14.2% | Equity Sector | 23.9% |
| 2000 | -9.1% | 16.0% | Equity Sector | 57.6% |
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.