Japanese-focused hedge funds have been taking a particularly tough beating this year, with at least one of them sinking by double digits since Jan. 1. The decline in the Nikkei, the Financial Times reports, has resulted in drops in June alone (through June 21) of 4.5% each at the Whitney Japan Fund and Odey Japan Fund, both long/short offerings. That leaves Whitney in the hole 12.3%, and Odey down 7.7%. Globally, June has been another letdown, as hedge funds get gun shy. “A lot of managers have gone from being long/short funds to being long/long funds with leverage, which removes the whole point of hedge funds offering protection in the event of a downturn,” an unnamed London HF manager told the FT. The news isn’t all bad, however. On the downside, the BVI Global Fund of Paul Tudor Jones lost about 3.7% through June 21, leaving it up year-to-date a paltry 0.9%. Others haven’t even been that, with Highbridge’s event driven fund dropping 4% this month and down 2.1% for the year so far, while Landsdowne Partners’ macro fund has lost 5.2% since Jan. 1. But Landsdowne’s other funds, reports the FT, are in positive territory between 2.5% and 6%.
