<p>It’s been a long, long time since hedge funds outpaced the market. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index lost to the S&P 500 for eight consecutive years from 2009 to 2016, and it’s on track to lose again this year. The HFRI Index is up 3.5 percent through May, while the S&P 500 is up 8.7 percent, including dividends.</p>
<p>It’s not just the S&P 500 that’s beating hedge funds. Astonishingly, hedge funds have trailed stocks everywhere since global markets recovered from the 2008 financial crisis. From March 2009 through May, the HFRI Index lost to the Russell 2000 Index by 11.9 percentage points annually, the MSCI EAFE Index -- a collection of companies in developed markets outside the U.S. -- by 5.6 percentage points, the MSCI EAFE small Cap Index by 10.3 percentage points, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 5.7 percentage points, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index by 8.4 percentage points.</p>