Distressed, equity long/short and emerging markets equity also posted gains, ending the month at 8.67 per cent, 6.84 per cent and 6.27 per cent respectively, according to the Deutsche Bank Monthly Hedge Fund Trends report for May. 

Equity long/short funds in Asia continued to perform at high levels, with Japan long/short up 15.26 per cent last month, though the MSCI AsiaPac Index was down 5.12 per cent.

In the US, distressed funds posted gains of 8.71 per cent year-to-date, while in Europe global long/short strategies were up 6.12 per cent year-to-date. Global dispersion of returns across all funds continued to remain high, with funds in the 75th percentile returning 2.40 per cent, while those in the 25th percentile lost 1 per cent.

The MSCI World 30-day volatility index plummeted 21.90 per cent, ending May at 8.65. Gross fundamental equity exposure and net fundamental equity exposure also decreased in May, ending the month at 2.49 and 0.66 .