After being the largest hedge fund strategy in 1990 representing 71% of the overall hedge fund assets global macro has shrunk and now only represents about 15% of total assets.  While most people assume that this dropoff in assets was due to poor performance the numbers actually show a totally different story.  In fact according to the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Indexes, global macro has been the number one investment strategy with a total return of 502% from 1994 through June 2009.  Compare that with a total return of 335% from long short equity or 321% from event driven funds.

Of course most investors also have a misguided perception that every trade is like the trade that “broke the Bank of England.”  That trade in 1992 made Soros and his Quantum Fund over $1 Billion in a few days and garnered a lot of publicity.  The funny thing is

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Caxton AssociatesCaxton Associates | Bruce Kovner | NotesThe following piece on Farallon Capital Managment Partners, LP is being published as part of our daily effort to track hedge funds in the industry. To review other hedge fund research notes please see our Hedge Fund Tracker Tool.Resource #1: In a recent 13G filing made with the SEC, Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates revealed their 5.2% ownership stake in Ferro (FOE). As of the date of the filing, they owned 2,276,526 shares. Previously, in their most recent 13F filing, they only owned 245,944 shares. So, as you can see, Caxton has significantly upped their stake in the company.Caxton Associates is ran by Bruce Kovner. Kovner's bio is as follows: "Kovner's first trade was for $3,000, borrowed against his MasterCard, in soybean futures ...

Caxton AssociatesCaxton Associates | Bruce Kovner | NotesThe following piece on Farallon Capital Managment Partners, LP is being published as part of our daily effort to track hedge funds in the industry. To review other hedge fund research notes please see our Hedge Fund Tracker Tool.Resource #1: In a recent 13G filing made with the SEC, Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates revealed their 5.2% ownership stake in Ferro (FOE). As of the date of the filing, they owned 2,276,526 shares. Previously, in their most recent 13F filing, they only owned 245,944 shares. So, as you can see, Caxton has significantly upped their stake in the company.Caxton Associates is ran by Bruce Kovner. Kovner's bio is as follows: "Kovner's first trade was for $3,000, borrowed against his MasterCard, in soybean futures ...

Caxton AssociatesCaxton Associates | Bruce Kovner | NotesThe following piece on Farallon Capital Managment Partners, LP is being published as part of our daily effort to track hedge funds in the industry. To review other hedge fund research notes please see our Hedge Fund Tracker Tool.Resource #1: In a recent 13G filing made with the SEC, Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates revealed their 5.2% ownership stake in Ferro (FOE). As of the date of the filing, they owned 2,276,526 shares. Previously, in their most recent 13F filing, they only owned 245,944 shares. So, as you can see, Caxton has significantly upped their stake in the company.Caxton Associates is ran by Bruce Kovner. Kovner's bio is as follows: "Kovner's first trade was for $3,000, borrowed against his MasterCard, in soybean futures ...

Hedge Fund ReturnsHedge Fund Year to Date ReturnsWhile these "year to date returns" are now slightly out of date here's a nice guest post by Market Folly on the performance of some of the more well known funds in the hedge fund industry:

Well, we recently got an update as to just how poorly hedge funds are performing year to date. Don't get me wrong, there are of course some standout performers. But, for the most part, they are taking it on the chin. Even some of the best and brightest in the game are right there with you. Hell, you're probably even outperforming some of these funds. Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, we get a look at many notable hedge fund's performance year to date.

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Caxton Associates, run by well known and one of the industry’s best money manager’s, Bruce Kovner, is a $6.5 billion hedge fund.  The fund holds 1200+ stocks in its portfolio and the KEY trades (or most material trades) in the quarter are tracked at:

http://trackthepros.com/

The trades are broken down by New, Sold, added to and reduced:

New

Ansoft

Clear Channel

Electronic Data Systems

Schlumberger

Sold

ADP

BEA Systems

Burlington Northern

Du Pont

Grant Prideco

Trane

UAP

Added To:

Navteq

NRG

Qualcomm

Rockwood Holdings

Service Co.

W-H Energy

XTO Energy

Reduced Positions

Viacom