Just in time for the holiday season, hedge funds traditionally deliver goodie$ to their clients, and this year should be no exception. According to a study by Citigroup Private Bank, December has been the best month for hedge funds with January a good follow-up over the past 16 years. The two months represent the best consecutive one-two punch in the study. During the decade-and-a-half research, hedge funds returned an average of 0.92%, but December figures towered at an estimated 1.5%, with January at 1.1%. “The turn of the calendar appears a highly favorable time” for most types of hedge funds, says Citigroup, noting that eight of 12 HF strategies saw their best returns of the year in December and three in January. Topping the list, according to Citigroup, are equity non hedge and macro strategies, whose December and January returns were twice as nice as the average. The exception to the year-end rule, notes Citigroup, is the short-selling strategy, which usually performs best in September.