The past year has been disappointing for most investors.

With a minus of 4.25 percent, the vast majority would have been well served, after all, the broad American stock index S&P 500 lost a good 19 percent.

Even with the bonds that are considered comparatively safe, the losses are in the double-digit percentage range.

The minus of 4.25 percent is quite good for the entire spectrum of hedge funds pursuing risky strategies.

Hedge Fund Research (HFR), an analysis company focused on the $3.8 trillion industry, published this performance on Tuesday.

Markus Fruehauf

Editor in Business.

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Investment vehicles focused on emerging markets performed the worst, down 12.6 percent.

Behind them are the hedge funds specializing in equities with minus 10.4 percent.

After all, they have developed significantly better than the world stock index MSCI World, which lost 18 percent last year.

Macro strategies were ahead

And there are also clear winners in the industry: These are the so-called macro hedge funds, which adapt to certain developments in the global economy and can use a wide range of asset classes to do so.

They range from stocks, bonds, derivatives, forex to commodities.

According to HFR, macro hedge funds gained 9.3 percent last year.

The Haidar Jupiter fund stands out here with a performance of 193 percent.

It's the best result ever for New York hedge fund manager Said Haidar since he founded his investment company more than two decades ago.

At the end of November, his hedge fund managed $3.8 billion.

Haidar correctly guessed the turnaround in inflation and interest rates.

The Eagle's View Capital Management of the New York hedge fund manager Neil Berger has also bet on the end of the extremely loose monetary policy and a tightening course of the central banks.

He, too, shines with a performance in the three-digit percentage range: the plus of the 700 million dollar managing fund amounted to 163 percent.

The hedge funds from Citadel, the financial group of billionaire Ken Griffin, were also able to convince with returns in the double-digit percentage range.

Citadel hedge funds, which have a total of $54.5 billion under management, have returned $8.5 billion in profits to investors, according to Bloomberg news agency.

Hedge funds, which rely on certain events such as company takeovers, cannot keep up with minus 5 percent.