A pair of major indices show hedge funds in the black in September, though most still trail broad-market equity indices year-to-date. HedgeFund.net’s HFN Hedge Fund Aggregate Average was up 0.18% on the month and 6.66% YTD, while the Fund of Funds Aggregate Average crept up 0.17% to 4.65% YTD. The Standard & Poor’s 500 had returned more than 7% YTD at the end of September, and the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 was up almost 8%. Individual strategies, however, continue to perform well. HFN’s Convertible Arbitrage Average was up 0.97% on the month (9.44% YTD), the Distressed Average rose 0.52% (9.45% YTD) and the Emerging Markets Average gained 0.29% (11.87% YTD). Only two strategies tracked by HFN lost ground last month: the Energy Sector Average (down 3.95% in September but still up 5.5% YTD) and the CTA/Managed Futures Average (down 1.02% last month, up 2.31% YTD). The news was also mostly positive from the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes, all six of whose strategies were in positive ground. Event-driven topped its charts with a 1.10% rise on the month (7.14% YTD), followed by distressed securities (0.93%, 9.54% YTD) and equity-market neutral (0.67%, 5.12% YTD).