Hedge funds continued upward trend in May

Hedge funds averaged positive returns in May after posting the highest return in more than five years in April, according to estimates released yesterday by HedgeFund.net.

The HFN Hedge Fund Aggregate Average returned an average of 5.29% for the month of May, compared to 2.96% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index. The data reflects a canvas of 1,863 hedge fund products.

For the third consecutive month, hedge fund performance was driven largely by growth in the global equity markets, HedgeFund.net said.

In addition, the firm found that the HFN Long/Short Equity Average had a return of 5.85%.

NFN Emerging Markets Average’s return was 12.46% for May. And the CTA/Managed Futures Average had a return of 3.45%.

HedgeFund.net is a news and information division of Channel Capital Group Inc. of New York. The firm tracks more than 7,200 hedge funds, funds of funds and managed-futures products.