Hedge Funds Can't Hedge August Volatility

Some like to think high volatility provides opportunity for astute money managers like hedge funds to provide real alpha. Yet despite the wild swings in equity and commodity markets this month, hedge funds have lostm ore than 4% in August, 2011 according to Hedge Fund Research.


Equity hedge funds lost more than 6%, only narrowly beating the S&P 500. So have hedge fund managers lost their ability to hedge?

Hedge Funds in Texas

From The Economist
FOR a state more closely associated with cattle and cowboys, Texas is home to a surprisingly big herd of hedge funds. They manage around $40 billion, making Texas the fifth-largest US state for hedge-fund assets (after New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and California), according to the Blue Heron Group, a research firm. Some of the industry’s biggest names, like Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital and Eddie Lampert of ESL Investments, have ties to the state or Texan investors.
Many Texans like to trace the industry’s vibrancy to the state’s risk-taking traditions. A century ago “wildcatters” put everything they had on the line to drill oil wells, hoping to discover a gusher. Some made millions; others lost everything.

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