Investment Insights: The Blog

Hedge fund investors see the downside of relative performance

Plus, Investment banker bonus week is here, building your own mutual fund, clean energy stocks, smart folks want a higher minimum wage, and getting the most out of Siri.

By Jeff Benjamin

Jan 14, 2014 @ 7:42 am (Updated 8:11 am) EST

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In a year that saw the S&P 500 gain more than 32%, no one should be surprised that non-correlated strategies would lose some investor appeal. But when hedge fund investors start fleeing because they don't like the relative performance comparison, it begs the question of whether these investors should still be described as the “smart money.”
Hedge fund investors raced to the exits in December. Disappointed by poor relative performance
What might look to some like a sequel to the Wolf of Wall Street this week is actually the start of bonus season for investment bankers. For those folks looking for another reason to be critical of capitalism, avert your eyes because, even though the checks might be down from prior years, they are still averaging between four and eight times the U.S. median household income.
Here come the investment banker bonus checks. Goldman Sachs average bonus: $427,000
Building your own 40-act mutual fund. Simple in theory
A few examples of high-flying clean energy stocks. Rallying above the moving averages
A bunch of Nobel Laureates think the federal minimum wage should be higher. Indexed to inflation
Getting the most out of Siri on iPhones and iPads. Call me 'your majesty'

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Jeff Benjamin covers investment strategies in his award-winning column, Investment Insights, and also dives deep into the minds of leading portfolio managers in his regular column, Portfolio Manager Perspectives.

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Nice gain for hedge funds in '13 but they still fell way short

Hedge funds had a decent year in 2013, with an average gain of 7.4%. But they still fell short of the S&P 500's advance by 23 percentage points last year, the biggest gap since 2005.