HFR

Those returns contrast with a year-to-date gain of about 1% for the average hedge fund, though Tuesday, according to data tracker HFR Inc.

Globally, funds of funds have had net inflows of capital in only two of the last nine quarters, according to HFR.

They are supported by Hedge Fund Research's "diversity index" , which tracks the performance of other minority groups along with women.

The average fund was up 1. 29 per cent this year until the end of July, according to confirmed HFR figures.

For all of 2008, 1, 471 hedge funds, or about 15 percent of the total, closed down, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.

Although some new funds have been created, HFR reckons there were just 8, 860 funds at the end of March, down from 10, 096 in 2007.

According to HFR, the average convertible arbitrage strategy returned more than 56 per cent in 2009.

Funds focusing on China made 19. 8%, HFR said.

According to Hedge Fund Research, funds under management fell from a peak of $1, 870bn in 2007 to $1, 430bn at the end of October 2009.

In the 1990s, the compound annual return from HFR's composite index was 18. 3%; since 2000, that return has been just 7. 5%.

HFR said that during the first quarter 376 funds closed compared to 778 fund closings in the final quarter of last year.

Research on Control Scheme and Vector Analysis of Control Principle of PFC-HFR