Hedge funds plunged a record 7.9% in the first half of the year as the coronavirus pandemic roiled markets

• Hedge funds lost a record 7.9% on an asset-weighted basis in the year's first half, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.
• None of the hedge funds' four major strategies made money in the first six months of 2020, the report showed.
• Markets suffered a meltdown in March as the coronavirus pandemic panicked investors. Since, however, equities have recovered most of the losses.
• Read more on Business Insider.

Hedge funds got slammed in the first half of the year as global markets suffered a major rout due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On an asset-weighted basis, hedge funds lost a record 7.9% in the first half of 2020, data from Hedge Fund Research showed. In the same timeframe, the S&P 500 index shed about 4%.

In addition, none of the four major investing strategies used by hedge funds made any money in the first six months. of the year, according to the report. Event-driven funds fell 9.6%, the worst of all the groups. The smallest decline was by relative-value funds, which lost 5.1%

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The coronavirus pandemic roiled global markets in March, sending the S&P 500 tumbling and ending the longest-ever bull market. Since, however, equities have come roaring back — now, the S&P 500 is up 39% from its March lows and is near where it started the year.

In June, the S&P 500 posted its best quarterly performance since 1998, gaining 1.8%. In the same month, hedge funds declined slightly, losing 0.4%, Hedge Fund Research data showed.