Hedge Funds Lose 0.78% in April

The average hedge fund lost money in April and slipped into the red for the first time this year, but these loosely regulated investment pools still beat the broader market, new data released Monday show.

Last month, hedge funds lost 0.78% after eking out a 0.31% gain in March, according to Hennessee Group. Hedge funds are still up 2.54% in the first four months of the year.

In April, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.28%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.71%. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished April down 1.68%.

Once reserved primarily for very wealthy individuals, hedge funds are increasingly appealing to more conservative investors such as pension funds.