All the big systematic trend-following funds I follow had years of -20% to maybe - best case - breakeven in 2009. Transtrend Tulip Trend Eckhardt Brummers Lynx MAN AHL Winton Dunn Bluetrend Abraham etc. I can't think of any one big fund which had a blow-out year in 2009, which is not surprising because synthetically they're long volatility. For them, in hindsight 2009 was about not giving back too much of 2008's gains.
If you fancy checking out the performance of top CTA trend following funds (Abraham, Chesapeake, Winton Cap, Transtrend, MAN, Eckhardt, Bill Dunn, etc.), here it is: 2009 performance of Trend Following Wizards This is mostly over a diversified portfolio of Futures (including Equities) and indeed 2009 was not good to them -7.30% on average... I dont think it went wrong.. Risking (losing) some is just part of the strategy... Trend Following will always have bigger drawdowns but decent money management ensures profitability in the long run... Look at all these guys long term CAGR...