Stock market volatility has been a boon for hedge funds this year, as they've beaten benchmarks handily. Goldman Sachs has identified the 16 stocks given "VIP" status from hedge funds — meaning the companies most commonly held by those large speculators. The volatility surge felt in stocks this year has been kind to hedge funds. Aided by the types of price dislocations that largely evaded them during the snoozefest of 2017, those large stock speculators have seen a blended index of their 100 largest positions climb 4.8% this year.