http://uk.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKLNE50T02P20090130?rpc=59&goback=.hom Not all bad news in hedge funds' annus horribilis Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:26am GMT Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] 1 of 1Full SizeBy Laurence Fletcher LONDON (Reuters) - A handful of hedge funds has resisted the global crisis ravaging their rivals, reaping bumper returns in 2008 in a sign some niche players will always beat the market no matter how dire the outlook. There is no single recipe to explain why CQS's Asset-Backed Securities rose 72.81 percent or Hugh Hendry's Eclectica fund 31.2 percent, other than that they doggedly clung to a strategy they thought would bring in the money. "To many observers, my behaviour became increasingly erratic," Eclectica Asset Management partner Hendry wrote in his latest client letter. "Rather than embrace risk, like everyone else, I shunned it ... I was written off as a gloomy character, one of life's perennial bears," he said. His bearish stance paid off for his 79 million euro (71 million pounds) Eclectica fund, which made a huge 43 percent gain in October alone, profiting from a huge government bond position and cutting back on commodities. Eclectica is one of a small group of funds living up to the industry's claim to always return money and to hedge against choppy markets from which it derives its name. Colin McLean's Highlander fund gained 21.1 percent in 2008, while Crispin Odey's Odey European fund added 10.9 percent. The results come as the average hedge fund lost 18.3 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research HFR.L, marking their worst year by far and only the second year in which they lost money since HFR started collecting data. Continued... View article on single pagePrevious Page 1 | 2 | 3 Next Page Shareel.icio.usDiggMixxMy WebFacebookLinkedIn More Top News Macy's cuts 7,000 jobs, slashes dividend | Video Obama seeks quick Senate action on stimulus