August 2009 Performance Review Of The Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks - A Monthly Report From Dow Jones Indexes On The Performance Of The Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks

All four hedge fund strategies published by Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes posted net-of-fees gains in August 2009.

Considering the high volatility the market has faced in the past 8 months, hedge funds showed only small positive returns for the month.

Event driven was again the strongest performer for the month with a gain of 1.70% for the month of August, and now sits atop the other strategies for the year with a 9.51% return. Conversely, Equity Market Neutral posted a small loss of only -0.59% for the month of August and a loss of -3.69% for the year. This was the only strategy to post a loss for the month of August and YTD.

The two remaining strategies Merger arbitrage and Equity long/short showed gains of 0.96% and 0.86 %, respectively in August.

Convertible arbitrage was suspended on January 2, 2009 and remained suspended through the month of August.

Distressed Securities was suspended on May 4, 2009 and remained suspended through the month of August.

	2009 Net-of-fees Performance
	August	2Q	YTD
Event Driven	1.70%	4.13%	9.51%
Equity Long/Short	0.86%	1.46%	3.20%
Equity Market Neutral	-0.59%	-1.51%	-3.69%
Merger Arbitrage	0.96%	1.82%	5.72%
Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index	3.61%	16.81%	16.69%
Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index	3.85%	23.72%	25.37%
Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index	1.44%	10.30%	14.84%

On a float-adjusted basis, the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index, the only broad measure of the domestic equity market, returned 3.61% in August bringing its YTD gain to 16.69%.

The fixed income asset class, as measured by the Dow Jones Corporate Bond Index gained 1.44% this month for a gain of 14.84% for the year.

Finally, the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index, the broadest measure of global equity markets, was up 3.85% for the month giving the index a positive YTD gain of 25.37% for 2009.

Note: August 2009 figures for the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks are based on daily estimates net of fees. Final performance figures for August 2009 will be available towards the end of September 2009. The methodology used to calculate the Dow Jones Hedge Fund Strategy Benchmarks is available on www.djhedgefundindexes.com.