A silent spring for hedge funds

Hedge fund sap is rising and, according to Hedge Fund Research's flash figures, hedge funds were up 3.8% in April 2009, with an aggregate gain of 4.2% for the year-to-date. Better up than down, but let's not pop the champagne just yet. With markets up this year, absolute returns might have be obtained more cheaply if an investor had opted for a simple long-only exchange-traded fund. Underperforming a bull market and outperforming a bear market might be an acceptable return profile fo…