Global hedge funds suffered the heaviest losses for 18 months in May having come into the poor month for equity markets with large long positions.
Large groups including Odey Asset Management, Moore Capital, Lansdowne Partners, CQS and Bluecrest posted trading losses of as much as 10%, leaving most of the year's gains wiped out in a month, The Telegraph reports.
The Hennessee Hedge fund index reported the average fund was down 2.99% last month, the worst drop since October 2008 at the height of the global banking meltdown.
Another index from Hedge Fund Research revealed the average was down 2.26%, the worst collective performance since November 2008.
A number of funds are believed to have started May with large long equity positions and were hit as investors moved strongly out of risk assets primarily on eurozone debt concerns.
The FTSE 100 fell 6.6% in May, the worst performance in over a year. Many European equity markets fell further.
Crispin Odey's $1.76bn European fund lost 10.96% during May. However, the vehicle returned 35% last year.
David Stewart, chief executive of Odey Asset Management says: "As our clients were aware, we were long equities. It has been painful and we are not happy, but in the short term we were wrong."
