Hedge funds are on track to close out another poor year in 2012 — but investors shouldn’t give up on them just yet.
Banking giant UBS says so-called active investing could be making a comeback after several years of lagging performance, according to a recent report sent to clients, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.
“Although the recent market environment has been difficult for active managers, conditions appear to be improving,” according to the report by UBS’s wealth-management group, which advises clients on their investment strategies. “We expect this to lead to better manager performance.”
UBS recommended clients consider taking advantage of the expected turnaround by investing in managers who try to make money both by holding and shorting stocks, a group known as long/short managers.
The bank cited data showing that so-called correlations have been dropping sharply in recent months — meaning stocks will no longer move in one giant clump, whether up or down.
The message couldn’t come at a better time for hedge funds, which have been bleeding assets as investors lose faith in their ability to outperform the broader market.
Hedge-fund industry assets declined to $1.8 trillion in October, down a whopping 26.1 percent from the June 2008 peak of $2.4 trillion, according to data from BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research.
The loss of more than a quarter of assets has been due not just to troubling losses in 2011, but also to the industry’s sudden difficulty beating passive investment strategies like the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
This year may be no different.
Hedge funds were up roughly 5.5 percent for the year at the end of November, according to performance tracker Hennessee Group. By comparison, the S&P 500 is on track to close the year up between 12 percent and 13 percent.
Outsize returns from plain-vanilla stock indices have prompted investors to question whether hefty hedge-fund fees — typically 2 percent of assets and 20 percent of profits — are worth it over the long run.